OF 


ii'^ 
31 


(I'aptaiu  Wittatd  (i')Uuif  v. 

THE  SOLDIER-AUTHOR. 


I.  Soldiers  of  the  Saddle. 
II.  Capture,  Prison-Pen  and  Escape. 

III.  Battles  for  the  Union. 

IV.  Heroes  of  Three  "Wars. 

V.  Peculiarities  of  American  Cities. 
VI.  Down  the  Great  River. 


Captain  Glazier's  works  are  growing  more  and  more 
popular  every  day.  Their  delineations  of  tocial.  mili- 
tary and  frontier  life,  constantly  varying  scenes,  aud 
deeply  interesting  stories,  combine  to  place  their  writer 
in  the  front  rank  of  American  author*. 


SOLD  ONLY  BY  SUBSCRIPTION. 

PERSONS  DESIRING  AGENCIES  FOB  ANT  OF  CAPTAIN  OLA- 
ZIEB'S  BOOKS  SHOULD  ADDRESS 


fe 


THE 


PECULIARITIES 


OP 


AMERICA!  CITIES. 


BY 


CAPTAIN  WILLAKD  GLAZIER, 

AUTHOR  OF  "SOLDIERS  OF  THE  SADDLE,"  "CAPTURE,  PRISON  PEN 

AND  ESCAPE,"  "BATTLES  FOR  THE  UNION,"  "HEROES  OF  THREE 

WARS,"  "DOWN  THE  GREAT  RIVER,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
HUBBARD  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

No.  723  CHESTNUT  STREET. 
1885. 


(2555 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1883,  by 

WILLARD   GLAZIER, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


WHO    IS    NEAREST   AND    DEAREST  J 
THOSE    HEART    HAS    ENCOURAGED; 

WHOSE  HAND  HAS  CONTRIBUTED  TO  THS 

ILLUSTRATION   AND    EMBELLISHMENT 
OF  ALL   MY    LITERARY   WORK, 

®hi^  Mum* 

IS  LOVINGLY  INSCRIBED 

BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


PREFACE. 


It  has  occurred  to  the  author  very  often  that  a  volume 
presenting  the  peculiar  features,  favorite  resorts  and 
distinguishing  characteristics,  of  the  leading  cities  of 
America,  would  prove  of  interest  to  thousands  who 
could,  at  best,  see  them  only  in  imagination,  and  to 
others,  who,  having  visited  them,  would  like  to  compare 
notes  with  one  who  has  made  their .  PECULIARITIES  a 
study  for  many  years. 

A  residence  in  more  than  a  hundred  cities,  including 
nearly  all  that  are  introduced  in  this  work,  leads  me  to 
feel  that  I  shall  succeed  in  my  purpose  of  giving  to  the 
public  a  book,  without  the  necessity  of  marching  in  slow 
and  solemn  procession  before  my  readers  a  monumental 
array  of  time-honored  statistics;  on  the  contrary,  it  will 
be  my  aim,  in  the  following  pages,  to  talk  of  cities  as  I 
have  seen  and  found  them  in  my  walks,  from  day  to  day, 
with  but  slight  reference  to  their  origin  and  past  history. 

WTLLARD  GLAZIER. 

22  Jay  Street, 
ALBAXY,  September  24,  1883. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Portrait  of  the  Author  (Steel) FRONTISPIECE. 

PAGE 

State  Street  and  Capitol,  Albany,  N.  Y 34 

Boston,  as  Viewed  from  the  Bay 38 

Soldiers'  Monument  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y 62 

View  of  Baltimore,  irom  Federal  Hill 92 

View  on  the  Battery,  Charleston,  South  Carolina 108 

Garden  at  Mount  Pleasant,  opposite  Charleston,  S.  C 112 

Custom  House,  Charleston,  South  Carolina 116 

Magnolia  Cemetery,  Charleston,  South  Carolina 120 

Public  Square  and  Perry  Monument,  Cleveland,  Ohio 150 

Euclid  Avenue,  Cleveland  Ohio 156 

Bird's-eye  View  of  Chicago,  from  the  Lake  Side 160 

Burning  of  Chicago,  the  World's  Greatest  Conflagration 164 

Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  Chicago 170 

Woodward  Avenue,  Detroit,  Michigan 192 

Harrisburg  and  Bridge  over  the  Susquehanna 200 

Jackson  Square  and  Old  Cathedral,  New  Orleans 274 

Mardi  Gras  Festival,  New  Orleans 278 

Bird's-eye  View  of  New  York 296 

New  York  and  Brooklyn  Bridge 318 

Pittsburg  and  its  Rivers 336 

Night  Scene  in  Market  Square,  Portland,  Maine 360 

Old  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia 370 

Masonic  Temple,  Philadelphia 378 

Girard  Avenue  Bridge,  Fairmount  Park,  Philadelphia 394 

View  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  from  Prospect  Terrace...  400 

Hew  Capitol  Building,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota 434 

Salt  Lake  and  Salt  Lake  City ; 440 

Levee  and  Great  Bridge  at  St.  Louis 492 

Shaw's  Garden  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri 502 

University  of  Toronto,  Canada 524 

East  Front  of  Capitol  at  Washington 538 

State,  War  and  Navy  Departments,  Washington,  D.  C 546 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.— ALBANY. 

From  Boston  to  Albany. — Worcester  and  Pittsfield. — The  Empire 
State  and  its  Capital. — Old  Associations. — State  Street. — Sketch 
of  Eany  History. — Killian  Van  Rensselaer. — Dutch  Emigra- 
tion.— Old  Fort  Orange. — City  Heights. — The  Lumber  District. 
— Van  Rensselaer  Homestead. — The  New  Capitol. — Military 
Bureau.- — War  Relics. — Letter  of  General  Dix. — Ellsworth  and 
Lincoln  Memorials. — Geological  Rooms. — The  Cathedral. — 
Dudley  Observatory. — Street  Marketing. — Troy  and  Cohoes. — 
Stove  Works. — Paper  Boats. — Grand  Army  Rooms. — Down  the 
Hudson 25-37 

CHAPTER  II.— BOSTON. 

Geographical  Location  of  Boston. — Ancient  Names. — Etymology 
of  the  Word  Massachusetts. — Changes  in  the  Peninsula. — Noted 
Points  of  Interest. — Boston  Common. — Old  Elm. — Duel  Under 
its  Branches. — Soldiers'  Monument. — Fragmentary  History. — 
Courtship  on  the  Common. — Faneuil  Hall  and  Market. — Old 
State  House. — King's  Chapel. — Brattle  Square  Church. — New 
State  House.— New  Post  Office.— Old  South  Church.— Birth- 
place of  Franklin. — "News  Letter." — City  Hall. —  Custom 
House. — Providence  Railroad  Station. — Places  of  General  In- 
terest  38-56 

CHAPTER  III.— BUFFALO. 

The  Niagara  Frontier. — Unfortunate  Fate  of  the  Eries. — The 
Battle  of  Doom.— Times  of  1812.— Burning  of  Buffalo.— Early 
Names. — Origin  of  Present  Name. — Growth  and  Population. — 
Railway  Lines. — Queen  of  the  Great  Lakes. — Fort  Porter  and 
Fort  Erie. — International  Bridge. — Iron  Manufacture. — Danger 
of  the  Niagara. — Forest  Lawn  Cemetery. — Decoration  Day. — 
The  Spaulding  Monument. — Parks  and  Boulevard. — Delaware 
Avenue. — On  the  Terrace. — Elevator  District. — Church  and 
Schools. — Grosvenor  Library. — Historical  Rooms. — Journalism. 
— Public  Buildings. — City  Hall. — Dog-carts  and  their  Attend- 
ants  57-71 

V 


Vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV.— BROOKLYN. 

Brooklyn  a  Suburb  of  New  York. — A  City  of  Homes. — Public 
Buildings. — Churches. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. — Thomas  De 
Witt  Talmage. — Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.D. — Justin  D.  Pulton,  D.D. 
— R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D. — Navy  Yard. — Atlantic  Dock. — Washington 
Park. —  Prospect  Park. — Greenwood  Cemetery.  —  Evergreen 
and  Cyprus  Hills  Cemeteries. — Coney  Island.— Rockaway. — 
Staten  Island.— Glen  Island.— Future  of  Brooklyn 72-84 

CHAPTER  V.— BALTIMORE. 

Position  of  Baltimore. — Streets. — Cathedral  and  Churches. — Pub- 
lic Buildings. — Educational  Institutions. — Art  Collections. — 
Charitable  Institutions. — 'Monuments. — Railway  Tunnels. — 
Parks  and  Cemeteries. — Druid  Hill  Park. — Commerce  and 
Manufactures. — Foundation  of  the  City. — Early  History. — Bona- 
parte-Patterson Marriage. — Storming  of  Baltimore  in  1814. — 
Maryland  at  the  Breaking-out  of  the  Rebellion. — Assault  on 
Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  in  April,  1861. — Subsequent 
Events  during  the  War. — Baltimore  Proves  Herself  Loyal. — 
Re-union  of  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  in  Baltimore,  Septem- 
ber, 1882. — Old  Differences  Forgotten  and  Fraternal  Relations 
Established 85-106 

CHAPTER  VI.— CHARLESTON. 

First  Visit  to  Charleston. — Jail  Yard. — Bombardment  of  the  City. 
— Roper  Hospital. — Charleston  During  the  War. — Secession  of 
South  Carolina. — Attack  and  Surrender  of  Fort  Sumter. — 
Blockade  of  the  Harbor. — Great  Fire  of  1861. — Capitulation  in 
1865.— First  Settlement  of  the  City.— Battles  of  the  Revolution. 
— Nullification  Act. — John  C.  Calhoun. — Population  of  the 
City. — Commerce  and  Manufactures. — Charleston  Harbor. — • 
"American  Venice." — Battery. — Streets,  Public  Buildings  and 
Churches. — Scenery  about  Charleston. — Railways  and  Steamship 
Lines. — An  Ancient  Church. — Magnolia  Cemetery. — Drives  near 
the  City.— Charleston  Purified  by  Fire 107-120 

CHAPTER  VII.— CINCINNATI. 

Founding  of  Cincinnati. — Rapid  Increase  of  Population. — Char- 
acter of  its  Early  Settlers. — Pro-slavery  Sympathies. — During 
the  Rebellion. — Description  of  the  City. — Smoke  and  Soot. — 


CONTENTS.  Vil 

Suburbs.  —  "Fifth  Avenue"  of  Cincinnati. — Streets,  Public 
Buildings,  Private  Art  Galleries,  Hotels,  Churches  and  Educa- 
tional Institutions. — "Over  the  Rhine."— Hebrew  Population. 
— Liberal  Religious  Sentiment. — Commerce  and  Manufacturing 
Interests. — Stock  Yards  and  Pork-packing  Establishments. — 
Wine  Making. — Covington  and  Newport  Suspension  Bridge. — 
High  Water. — Spring  Grove  Cemetery 121-189 

CHAPTER  VIIL— CLEVELAND. 

The  "  Western  Reserve." — Character  of  Early  Settlers. — Fairport. 
— Richmond. — Early  History  of  Cleveland. — Indians. — Opening 
of  Ohio  and  Portsmouth  Canal. — Commerce  in  1845. — Cleve- 
land in  1850 — First  Railroad. — Manufacturing  Interests. — 
Cuyahoga  "Flats"  at  Night. —The  "Forest  City."— Streets  and 
Avenues. — Monumental  Park. — Public  Buildings  and  Churches. 
— Union  Depot. — Water  Rents. — Educational  Institutions. — 
Rocky  River. — Approach  to  the  City. — Freshet  of  1883. — 
Funeral  of  President  Garfield. — Lake  Side  Cemetery. — Site  of 
the  Garfield  Monument 140-156 

CHAPTER  IX.— CHICAGO. 

Topographical  Situation  of  Chicago. — Meaning  of  the  Name. — 
Early  History. — Massacre  at  Fort  Dearborn. — Last  of  the  Red 
Men. — The  Great  Land  Bubble. — Rapid  Increase  in  Popula- 
tion and  Business. — The  Canal. — First  Railroad. — Status  of 
the  City  in  1871. — The  Great  Fire. — Its  Origin,  Progress  and 
Extent. — Heartrending  Scenes. — Estimated  Total  Loss. — Help 
from  all  Quarters. — Work  of  Reconstruction. — Second  Fire. — 
Its  Public  Buildings,  Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions, 
Streets  and  Parks. — Its  Waterworks. — Its  Stock  Yards. — Its 
Suburbs.— Future  of  the  City 157-175 

CHAPTER  X.— CHEYENNE. 

Location  of  Cheyenne. — Founding  of  the  City. — Lawlessness. — 
Vigilance  Committee. — Woman  Suffrage. — Rapid  Increase  of 
Population  and  Business. — A  Reaction. — Stock  Raising. — Irri- 
gation.— Mineral  Resources. — Present  Prospects 176-181 

CHAPTER  XL— DETROIT. 

Detroit  and  Her  Avenues  of  Approach. — Competing  Lines.— 
London  in  Canada. — The  Strait  and  the  Ferry. — Music  on  the 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Waters.— The  Home  of  the  Algonquins.— Teusha-grondie. — 
Wa-we-aw-to-nong. — Fort  Ponchartrain  and  the  Early  French 
Settlers. — The  Red  Cross  of  St.  George.— Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 
— Battle  of  Bloody  Run. — The  Long  Siege. — Detroit's  First 
American  Flag.— Old  Landmarks. — The  Pontiac  Tree. — Devas- 
tation by  Fire.— Site  of  the  Modern  City. — New  City  Hall. — 
Public  Library. — Mexican  Antiquities 182-193 

CHAPTER  XII.— ERIE. 

Decoration  Day  in  Pennsylvania. — Lake  Erie. — Natural  Advan- 
tages of  Erie. — Her  Harbor,  Commerce  and  Manufactures. — 
Streets  and  Public  Buildings. — Soldiers'  Monument. — Erie 
Cemetery.— East  and  West  Parks. — Perry's  Victory 191-198 

CHAPTER  XIII.— HARRISBURG. 

Art  Historic  Tree. — John  Harris'  Wild  Adventure  with  the  In' 
dians. — Harris  Park. — History  of  Harrisburg. — Situation  and 
Surroundings. — State  House. — State  Library. — An  Historic  Flag. 
— View  from  State  House  Dome. — Capitol  Park. — Monument  to 
Soldiers  of  Mexican  War. — Monument  to  Soldiers  of  Late  War. 
— Public  Buildings. — Front  Street. — Bridges  over  the  Susque- 
hanna. — Mt.  Kalmia  Cemetery. — Present  Advantages  and  Future 
Prospects  of  Harrisburg 199-206 

CHAPTER  XIV.— HARTFORD. 

The  City  of  Publishers. — Its  Geographical  Location. — The  New 
State  House. —Mark  Twain  and  the  "None  Such."— The 
"Heathen  Chinee." — Wadsworth  Atheneum. — Charter  Oak. — 
George  H.  Clark's  Poem. — Putnam's  Hotel. — Asylum  for  Deaf 
Mutes. — The  Sign  Language. — A  Fragment  of  Witchcraftism. — • 
Hartford  Courant. — The  Connecticut  River 207-215 

CHAPTER  XV.— LANCASTER. 

first  Visit  to  Lancaster. — Eastern  Pennsylvania. — Conestoga 
River.— Early  History  of  Lancaster.— Early  Dutch  Settlers. — 
Manufactures. — Public  Buildings. — Whit-Monday. — Home  of 
three  Noted  Persons. — James  Buchanan,  his  Life  and  Death. — 
Thaddeus  Stevens  and  his  Burial  Place. — General  Reynolds 
and  his  Death.—"  Cemetery  City." 216-221 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XVI.— MILWAUKEE. 

Rapid  Development  of  the  Northwest. — The  "  West"  Forty  Years 
Ago. — Milwaukee  and  its  Commerce  and  Manufactures. — Grain 
Elevators. — Harbor. — Divisions  of  the  City. — Public  Buildings. 
— Northwestern  National  Asylum  for  Disabled  Soldiers. — Ger- 
man Population. — Influence  and  Results  of  German  Immigra- 
tion.— Bank  Riot  in  1862. — Ancient  Tumuli. — Mound  Builders. 
—  Mounds  Near  Milwaukee. — Significance  of  Same. —  Early 
Trader^. — Foundation  of  the  City  in  1835. — Excelling  Chicago 
in  1870.— Population  and  Commerce  in  1880 222-235 

CHAPTER  XVII.— MONTREAL. 

Thousand  Islands. — Long  Sault  Rapids. — Lachine  Rapids. — 
Victoria  Bridge — Mont  Real. — Early  History  of  Montreal. — Its 
Shipping  Interests.  —  Quays. — Manufactures.  —  Population. — 
Roman  Catholic  Supremacy.  —  Churches.  —  Nunneries.  — 
Hospitals,  Colleges.  —  Streets.  —  Public  Buildings.  —  Victoria 
Skating  Rink. — Sleighing. — Early  Disasters. — Points  of  Interest. 
—The  "Canucks." 236-247 

CHAPTER  XVIII.— NEWARK. 

From  New  York  to  Newark. — Two  Hundred  Years  Ago. — The 
Pioneers. — Public  Parks. — City  of  Churches. — The  Canal. — 
Sailing  Up-Hill. — An  Old  Graveyard. — New  Amsterdam  and 
New  Netherlands. — The  Dutch  and  English. — Adventurers  from 
New  England. — The  Indians. — Rate  of  Population. — Manu- 
factures.— Rank  as  a  City 248-255 

CHAPTER  XIX.— NEW  HAVEN. 

The  City  of  Elms. — First  Impressions. — A  New  England  Sunday. 
— A  Sail  on  the  Harbor. — Oyster  Beds. — East  Rock. — The 
Lonely  Denizen  of  the  Bluff. — Romance  of  John  Turner. — 
West  Rock. — The  Judges'  Cave. — Its  Historical  Association. — 
Escape  of  the  Judges. — Monument  on  the  City  Green. — Yale 
College. — Its  Stormy  Infancy. — Battle  on  the  Weathersfield 
Road.— Harvard,  the  Fruit  of  the  Struggle 256-263 

CHAPTER  XX.— NEW  ORLEANS. 

Locality  of  New  Orleans. — The  Mississippi. — The  Old  and  the 
New. — Ceded  to  Spain. — Creole  Part  in  the  American  Revolu- 


X  CONTENTS. 

tion.  Retransferred  to  France. — Purchased  by  the  United 
States. — Creole  Discontent. — Battle  of  New  Orleans. — Increase 
of  Population.  —  The  Levee. —  Shipping. —  Public  Buildings, 
Churches,  Hospitals,  Hotels  and  Places  of  Amusement. — 
Streets. — Suburbs. — Public  Squares  and  Parks. — Places  of 
Historic  Interest.  —  Cemeteries.  —  French  Market.  —  Mardi- 
gras. — Climate  and  Productions. — New  Orleans  during  the 
Rebellion. — Chief  Cotton  Mart-  of  the  World. — Exports. — 
Imports.— Future  Prosperity  of  the  City 264-280 

CHAPTER  XXI.— NEW  YORK. 

Early  History  of  New  York. — During  the  Revolution. — Evacuation 
Day. — Bowling  Green. — Wall  Street. — Stock  Exchange. — Jacob 
Little. — Daniel  Drew. — Jay  Cooke. — Rufus  Hatch. — The  Van- 
derbilts. — Jay  Gould. — Trinity  Church. — John  Jacob  Astor. — 
Post-Office. — City  Hall  and  Court  House. — James  Gordon 
Bennett. — Printing  House  Square. — Horace  Greeley. — Broad- 
way.— Union  Square. — Washington  Square. — Fifth  Avenue. — 
Madison  Square. — Cathedral. — Murray  Hill.—  Second  Avenue. 
— Booth's  Theatre  and  Grand  Opera  House. — The  Bowery. — 
Peter  Cooper. — Fourth  Avenue. — Park  Avenue. — Five  Points 
and  its  Vicinity. — Chinese  Quarter. — Tombs. — Central  Park. — • 
Water  Front. — Blackwell's  Island. — Hell  Gate.  —  Suspension 
Bridge. — Opening  Day. — Tragedy  of  Decoration  Day. — New 
York  of  the  Present  and  Future 28J-318 

CHAPTER  XXII.— OMAHA. 

Arrival  in  Omaha. — The  Missouri  River. — Position  and  Appear- 
ance of  the  City. — Public  Buildings. — History. — Land  Specula- 
tion.— Panic  of  1857. — Discovery  of  Gold  in  Colorado. — "  Pike's 
Peak  or  Bust." — Sudden  Revival  of  Business. — First  Railroad. 
—  Union  Pacific  Railroad. — Population.  —  Commercial  and 
Manufacturing  Interests. — Bridge  over  the  Missouri. — Union 
Pacific  Depot. — Prospects  for  the  Future 319-325 

CHAPTER  XXIII.— OTTAWA. 

Ottawa,  the  Seat  of  the  Canadian  Government.  —  History.  — 
Population.  —  Geographical  Position.  —  Scenery.  —  Chaudiere 
Falls. — Rideau  Falls. — Ottawa  River.  —  Lumber  Business. — 
Manufactures. — Steamboat  and  Railway  Communications. — 


CONTENTS.  Xl 

Moore's  Canadian  Boat  Song. — Description  of  the  City. — 
Churches,  Nunneries,  and  Charitable  Institutions. — Government 
Buildings. — Rideau  Hall. — Princess  Louise  and  Marquis  of 
Lome.— Ottawa's  Proud  Boast 326-331 

CHAPTER  XXIV.-PITTSBURG. 

Pittsburg  at  Night. — A  Pittsburg  Fog. — Smoke. — Description  of 
the  City. — The  Oil  Business. — Ohio  River. — Public  Buildings, 
Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions. — Glass  Industry. — 
Iron  Foundries. — Fort  Pitt  Worki  — Casting  a  Monster  Gun. 
— American  Iron  Works. — Nail  Works. — A  City  of  Workers. 
— A  True  Democracy. — Wages. — Character  of  Workmen. — 
Value  of  Organization. — Knights  of  Labor. — Opposed  to  Strikes. 
— True  Relations  of  Capital  and  Labor. — Railroad  Strike  of 
1877. — Allegheny  City. — Population  of  Pittsburg. — Early  His- 
tory— Braddock's  Defeat. — Old  Battle  Ground. — Historic  Relics. 
—The  Past  and  the  Present 332-347 

CHAPTER  XXV.— PORTLAND. 

The  Coast  of  Maine. — Early  Settlements  in  Portland. — Troubles 
with  the  Indians. — Destruction  of  the  Town  in  1690. — Destroyed 
Again  in  1703. — Subsequent  Settlement  and  Growth. — During 
the  Revolution. — First  Newspaper. — Portland  Harbor. — Com- 
mercial Facilities  and  Progress. — During  the  Rebellion. — Great 
Fire  of  1866. — Reconstruction. — Position  of  the  City. — Streets. 
— Munjoy  Hill. — Maine  General  Hospital. — Eastern  and  Western 
Promenades. — Longfellow's  House. — Birthplace  of  the  Poet. — 
Market  Square  and  Hall. — First  Unitarian  Church. — Lincoln 
Park.  —  Eastern  Cemetery. — Deering's  Woods. — Commercial 
Street. — Old-time  Mansion. — Case's  Bay  and  Islands. — Gush- 
ing's  Island. — Peak's  Island. — Ljng  Island. — Little  Chebague 
Island. — Harpswell 348-365 

CHAPTER  XXVI.— PHILADELPHIA. 

Early  History. — William  Penn. — The  Revolution. — Declaration 
of  Independence. — First  Railroad. — Riots. — Streets  and  Houses. 
— Relics  of  the  Past. — Independence  Hall.— Carpenters'  Hall. 
— Blue  Anchor. — Letitia  Court. — Christ  Church.  -Old  Swedes' 
Church.— Benjamin  Franklin.  — Libraries. — Old  Quaker  Alms- 
house.  —  Old  Houses  in  Germantown.  —  Manufactures.  — 
Theatres. — Churches — Scientific  Institutions.  — Newspapers. — 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Medical  Colleges. — Schools. — Public  Buildings. — Penitentiary. 
—  River  Front.  —  Fairmount  Park.  —  Zoological  Gardens.  — 
Cemeteries.  —  Centennial  Exhibition.  —  Bi-Centennial. —  Past, 
Present  and  Future  of  the  City 366-398 

CHAPTER  XXVIL— PROVIDENCE. 

Origin  of  the  City. — Roger  Williams. — Geographical  Location  and 
Importance. — Topography  of  Providence. — The  Cove. — Railroad 
Connections. — Brown  University. — Patriotism  of  Rhode  Island. 
— Soldiers'  Monument. — The  Roger  Williams  Park.  — Narragan- 
sett  Bay. — Suburban  Villages. — Points  of  Interest. — Butter  Ex- 
change.— Lamplighting  on  a  New  Plan. — Jewelry  Manufacto- 
ries  399-404 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.-QUEBEC. 

Appearance  of  Quebec. — Gibraltar  of  America. — Fortifications  and 
Walls. — The  Walled  City. — Churches,  Nunneries  and  Hospitals. 
— Views  from  the  Cliff. — Upper  Town. — Lower  Town. — Manu- 
factures.— Public  Buildings. — Plains  of  Abraham. — Falls  of 
Montmorenci. — Sledding  on  the  "Cone." — History  of  Quebec. 
— Capture  of  the  City  by  the  British. — Death  of  Generals  Wolfe 
and  Montcalm. — Disaster  under  General  Murray. — Ceding  of 
Canada,  by  France,  to  England. — Attack  by  American  Forces 
under  Montgomery  and  Arnold. — Death  of  Montgomery. — Capital 
of  Lower  Canada  and  of  the  Province  of  Quebec^ 405-414 

CHAPTER  XXIX.— READING. 

Geographical  Position  and  History  of  Reading. — Manufacturing 
Interests. — Population,  Streets,  Churches  and  Public  Buildings. 
— Boating  on  the  Schuylkill. — White  Spot  and  the  View  from 
its  Summit. — Other  Pleasure  Resorts. — Decoration  Day. — 
Wealth  Created  by  Industry 415-420 

CHAPTER  XXX.— RICHMOND. 

Arrival  in  Richmond. — Libby  Prison. — Situation  of  the  City. — 
Historical  Associations. — Early  Settlement.  —  Attacked  by 
British  Forces  in  the  Revolution. — Monumental  Church. — St. 
John's  Church. — State  Capital. — Passage  of  the  Ordinance  of 
Secession. — Richmond  the  Capital  of  the  Confederate  States. — 
Military  Expeditions  against  the  City. — Evacuation  of  Petersburg. 
— Surrender  of  the  City. — Visit  of  President  Lincoln. — Historical 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

Places. — Statues. — Rapid  Recuperation  After  the  War. — Manu- 
facturing and  Commercial  Interests. — Streets  and  Public  Build- 
ings.— Population  and  Future  Prospects 421-432 

CHAPTER  XXXI.— SAINT  PAUL. 

Early  History  of  Saint  Paul. — Founding  of  the  City. — Public 
Buildings. — Roman  Catholics. — Places  of  Resort. — Falls  of 
Minnehaha. — Carver's  Cave. — Fountain  Cave. — Commercial 
Interests. — Present  and  Future  Prospects 433-437 

CHAPTER  XXXII.-SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

The  Mormons. — Pilgrimage  Across  the  Continent. — Site  of  Salt 
Lake  City. — A  People  of  Workers. — Spread  of  Mormons  through 
other  Territories. — City  of  the  Saints. — Streets. — Fruit  and 
Shade  Trees. — Irrigation. — The  Tabernacle. — Residences  of  the 
late  Brigham  Young. — Museum. — Public  Buildings. — Warm 
and  Hot  Springs. — Number  and  Character  of  Population. — 
Barter  System  before  Completion  of  Railroad. — Mormons  and 
Gentiles. — Present  Advantages  and  Future  Prospects  of  Salt 
Lake  City 438-447 

CHAPTER  XXXIII.— SAN  FRANCISCO. 
San  Francisco. — The  Golden  State. — San  Francisco  Bay. — Golden 
Gate. — Conquest  of  California  by  Fremont,  1848. — Discovery 
of  Gold.— Rush  to  the  Mines,  1849.— "Forty-niners."— Great 
Rise  in  Provisions  and  Wages. — Miners  Homeward  Bound. — 
Dissipation  and  Vice  in  the  City. — Vigilance  Committee. — Great 
Influx  of  Miners  in  1850. — Immense  Gold  Yield. — Climate. — 
Earthquakes. — Productions. — Irrigation. — Streets  and  Buildings. 
- — Churches. — Lone  Mountain  Cemetery. — Cliff  House. — Seal 
Rock. — Theatres. — Chinese  Quarter. — Chinese  Theatres. — Joss 
Houses. — Emigration  Companies  — The  Chinese  Question. — 
Cheap  Labor. — "  The  Chinese  Must  Go." — Present  Population 
and  Commerce  of  San  Francisco. — Exports. — Manufactures. — 
Cosmopolitan  Nature  of  Inhabitants 448-472 

CHAPTER  XXXIV.— SAVANNAH. 

First  Visit  to  Savannah. — Camp  Davidson. — The  City  During  the 
War. — An  Escaped  Prisoner. — Recapture  and  Final  Escape. — 
A  "City  of  Refuge." — Savannah  by  Night. — Position  of  the 
City. — Streets  and  Public  Squares. — Forsyth  Park. — Monu- 


Xl  r  CONTENTS. 

ments. — Commerce. — View  from  the  Wharves. — Railroads.— 
Founding  of  the  City. — Revolutionary  History. — Death  of 
Pulaski. — Secession. — Approach  of  Sherman. — Investment  of 
the  City  by  Union  Troops. — Recuperation  After  the  War. — 
Climate. — Colored  Population. —  Bonaventure,  Thunderbolt,  and 
Other  Suburban  Resorts 473-48G 

CHAPTER  XXXV.— SPRINGFIELD. 

Valley  of  the  Connecticut.  —  Location  of  Springfield.  —  The 
United  States  Armory.  —  Springfield  Library.  —  Origin  of 
the  Present  Library  System. — The  Wayland  Celebration. — 
Settlement  of  Springfield.  —  Indian  Hostilities.  —  Days  of 
Witchcraft. — Trial  of  Hugh  Parsons. — Hope  Daggett.— Spring- 
field "  Republican." 487-491 

CHAPTER  XXXVI.— ST.  LOUIS. 

Approach  to  St.  Louis. — Bridge  Over  the  Mississippi. — View  of  the 
City. — Material  Resources  of  Missouri. — Early  History  of  St. 
Louis. — Increase  of  Population. — Manufacturing  and  Commer- 
.cial  Interests. — Locality. — Description  of  St.  Louis  in  1842. — 
Resemblance  to  Philadelphia. — Public  Buildings. — Streets. — 
Parks. — Fair  Week. — Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions. 
— Hotels. — Mississippi  River. — St.  Louis  During  the  Rebellion. 
—Peculiar  Characteristics.— The  Future  of  the  City 492-510 

CHAPTER  XXXVII.— SYRACUSE. 

Glimpses  on  the  Rail. — Schenectady. — Valley  of  the  Mohawk. — 
"Lover's  Leap." — Rome  and  its  Doctor. — Oneida  Stone. — The 
Lo  Race. — Oneida  Community. — The  City  of  Salt. — The  Six 
Nations. — The  Onondagas. — Traditions  of  Red  Americans. — 
Hiawatha. — Sacrifice  of  White  Dogs. — Ceremonies. — The  Lost 
Tribes  of  Israel. — Witches  and  Wizards. — A  Jules  Verne  Story. — 
The  Salt  Wells  of  Salina. — Lake  Onondaga. — Indian  Knowledge 
of  Salt  Wells.—"  Over  the  Hills  and  Far  Away."— A  Castle.— 
Steam  Canal  Boats. — Adieux. — Westward  Ho! 511-521 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII.— TORONTO. 

Situation  of  Toronto.— The  Bay.— History.— Rebellion  of  1837.— 
Fenian  Invasion  of  1866. — Population. — General  Appearance. — 
Sleighing. — Streets. — Railways. — Commerce. —  Manufactures. — 


CONTENTS.  xv 

Schools  and  Colleges. — Queen  Park. — Churches. — Benevolent 
Institutions. —  Halls  and  Other  Public  Buildings. —  Hotels. — 
Newspapers. — General  Characteristics  and  Progress 522-527 

CHAPTER  XXXIX.— WASHINGTON. 

Situation  of  the  National  Capital. — Site  Selected  by  Washington. 
— Statues  of  General  Andrew  Jackson,  Scott,  McPherson, 
Bawlins. — Lincoln  Emancipation  Group. — Navy  Yard  Bridge. 
—  Capitol  Building.  —  The  White  House.  —  Department  of 
State,  War  and  Navy. — The  Treasury  Department.  —  Patent 
Office. — Post  Office  Department. — Agricultural  Building. — 
Army  Medical  Museum.  —  Government  Printing  Office.  — 
United  States  Barracks. — Smithsonian  Institute. — National 
Museum.  —  The  Washington  Monument.  —  Corcoran  Art 
Gallery.  —  National  Medical  College.  —  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Asylum.  —  Increase  of  Population.  —  Washington's  Future 
Greatness....  528-558 


CHAPTER  I. 

ALBANY. 

From  Boston  to  Albany. — Worcester  and  Pittsfield. — The  Empire 
State  and  its  Capital. — Old  Associations. — State  Street. — Sketch 
of  Early  History. — Killian  Van  Rensselaer. — Dutch  Emigra- 
tion.— Old  Fort  Orange. — City  Heights. — The  Lumber  District. 
— Van  Rensselaer  Homestead. — The  New  Capitol. — Military 
Bureau. — War  Relics. — Letter  of  General  Dix. — Ellsworth  and 
Lincoln  Memorials. — Geological  Rooms. — The  Cathedral. — 
Dudley  Observatory. — Street  Marketing. — Troy  and  Cohoes. — 
Stove  Works. — Paper  Boats. — Grand  Army  Rooms. — Down  the 
Hudson. 

AN  exceedingly  cold  day  was  February  fourth, 
1875,  the  day  which  marked  our  journey  from 
Boston  to  Albany.  My  inclination  to  step  outside  our 
car  and  tip  my  hat  to  the  various  familiar  places  along 
the  route  was  suddenly  checked  by  a  gust  of  cutting, 
freezing,  zero-stinging  air.  A  ride  of  between  one  and 
two  hours  brought  us  to  Worcester,  a  stirring  town  of 
about  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  Worcester  is  noted 
principally  for  its  cotton  factories,  and  as  a  political 
center  in  Eastern  Massachusetts. 

Springfield,  Westfield  and  Pittsfield  follow  in  suc- 
cession along  the  route,  in  central  and  Western  Massa- 
chusetts, the  former  %of  which  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  special  chapter,  and  the  latter  I  remember 
chiefly  as  the  place  where,  in  the  summer  of  1866,  I 
took  my  first  steps  in  a  new  enterprise.  Pittsfield  has 
large  cotton  mills,  is  a  summer  resort,  and  is  the  nearest 
point,  by  rail,  to  the  Shaker  community  at  Lebanon,  five 

25 


26         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

miles  distant.  At  Westfield  the  Mount  Holyoke  Rail- 
road joins  the  main  line,  and  seiui-annually  conveys  the 
daughters  of  the  land  to  the  famous  Holyoke  Female 
Seminary. 

Leaving  Pittsfield  we  soon  reached  the  State  line 
between  New  York  and  Massachusetts.  I  sometimes 
think  that  after  a  residence  in  almost  every  State  of  the 
Union,  I  ought  to  feel  no  greater  attraction  for  my 
native  State  than  any  other,  yet  I  cannot  repress  a 
sentiment  of  stronger  affection  for  good,  grand  old  New 
York  than  any  other  in  the  united  sisterhood.  The 
Empire  State  has  indeed  a  charm  for  me,  and  a 
congenial  breeze,  I  imagine,  always  awaits  me  at  its 
boundary. 

A  ride  of  another  hour  brings  to  view  the  church 
spires  of  Albany,  and  with  them  a  long  line  of  thrilling 
memories  come  rushing,  like  many  waters,  to  my  mind. 
Here,  in  1859,  I  entered  the  State  Normal  School;  here 
I  resolved  to  enter  the  army;  and  here  the  first  edition 
of  my  first  book  was  published,  in  the  autumn  of  1865. 
The  work,  therefore,  of  presenting  this  chapter  upon  the 
peculiar  features  of  the  Capital  City  of  New  York,  may 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  agreeable  duties  I  have 
to  perform  in  the  preparation  of  these  pages. 

The  traveler  now  entering  Albany  from  the  east 
crosses  the  Hudson  on  a  beautiful  iron  railroad  bridge, 
which,  in  the  steady  march  of  improvements,  has 
succeeded  the  old-time  ferry  boat.  He  is  landed  at  the 
commodious  stone  building  of  the  New  York  Central 
and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  which  is  conveniently 
sandwiched  between  the  Delavan  House  and  Stanwix 
Hall,  two  large,  well  known  and  well  conducted  hotels. 


ALBANY.  27 

My  first  night  in  a  city  and  a  hotel  was  spent  here,  at 
the  old  Adams  House,  located  at  that  time  on  Broadway 
just  opposite  the  Delavan.  I  was  awakened  in  the 
morning  by  the  roll  and  rattle  of  vehicles,  and  the  usual 
din  and  noise  of  a  city  street.  The  contrast  to  my 
quiet  home  in  the  Valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  was  so 
marked,  I  can  never  forget  the  impression  I  then 
received,  and  as  I  walked  up  State  street  toward  the 
old  Capitol,  I  almost  fancied  that  such  a  street  might 
be  a  fit  road  to  Paradise.  Albany  was  the  gate  through 
which  I  entered  the  world,  and  to  my  boyish  vision  the 
view  it  disclosed  was  very  wade,  and  the  grand  possibili- 
ties that  lay  in  the  dim  distance  seemed  manifold.  It  is 
the  oldest  city,  save  Jamestown,  Va.,  in  the  Union, 
having  been  settled  in  the  very  babyhood  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  somewhere  about  1612  or  1614.  It  was 
originally,  until  the  year  1661,  only  a  trading  post  on 
the  frontier,  the  entire  region  of  country  to  the  westward 
being  unexplored  and  unknown,  except  as  the  "far 
west."  The  red  warriors  of  the  Mohegans,  Senecas, 
Mohawks  and  the  remaining  bands  of  the  "  Six  Nations  " 
held  undisputed  possession  of  the  soil,  and  kindled  their 
council  fires  and  danced  their  "corn  dances"  in  peace, 
unmolested  as  yet  by  the  aggressive  pale-faces. 

The  baptismal  name  of  the  embryo  city  of  Albany 
was  Scho-negh-ta-da,  an  Indian  word  meaning  "  over 
the  plains."  The  name  was  afterwards  transferred  to 
the  outlying  suburban  town  now  known  as  Schgnectady. 
An  immense  tract  of  land  bordering  the  Hudson 
for  twenty-four  miles,  and  reaching  back  from  the 
river  three  times  that  distance,  included  Albany  within 
its  jurisdiction,  and  was  originally  owned  by  a  rich 


28         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Dutch  merchant,  one  Killian  Van  Rensselaer,  from 
Amsterdam.  The  land  was  purchased  from  the  Indians 
for  the  merest  trifle,  after  the  usual  fashion  of  white 
cupidity  when  dealing  with  Indian  generosity  and 
ignorance.  Emigrants  were  sent  over  from  the  old 
country  to  people  this  wide  domain,  and  thus  the  first 
white  colony  was  established,  which  subsequently  grew 
into  sufficient  importance  to  become  the  Capital  city  of 
the  Empire  State. 

Before  the  purchase  of  Killian  Van  Rensselaer,  a  fort 
was  built  somewhere  on  what  is  now  known  as  Broad- 
way, and  was  named  Fort  Orange,  in  honor  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  who  was  at  that  time  patroon  of  New 
Netherlands,  as  New  York  was  at  first  called.  Old  Fort 
Orange  afterwards  went  by  various  names,  among  which 
were  Rensselaer wyck,  Beaverwyck  and  Williamstadt. 
In  1664  the  sovereignty  of  the  tract  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  English,  and  was  named  Albany,  in 
compliment  to  the  Duke  of  Albany.  In  1686  the 
young  city  aspired  to  a  city  charter,  and  its  first 
mayor,  Peter  Schuyler,  was  then  elected.  In  1807 
it  became  the  Capital  of  the  State.  As  an  item  of  in- 
terest, it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  first  vessel  which 
ascended  the  river  as  far  as  Albany  was  the  yacht  Half 
Moon,  Captain  Hendrick  Hudson  commanding. 
1  Albany,  like  ancient  Rome,  sits  upon  her  many  hills, 
and  the  views  obtained  from  the  city  heights  are  beauti- 
ful in  the  extreme.  The  Helderbergs  and  the  Catskill 
ranges  loom  blue  and  beautiful  towards  the  south, 
Troy  and  the  Green  Mountains  of  Vermont  can  be  seen 
from  the  north,  while  beyond  the  river,  Bath-on-the 
Hudson  and  the  misty  hill  tops  further  away,  rim  the 


ALBANY.  29 

horizon's  distant  verge.  The  city  has  a  large  trade  in 
lumber,  and  that  portion  of  it  which  is  known  as  the 
"lumber  district"  is  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  this 
branch.  One  may  walk,  of  a  summer's  day,  along  the 
smooth  and  winding  road  between  the  river  and  the 
canal,  for  two  miles  or  more,  and  encounter  nothing 
save  the  tasteful  cottage-like  offices,  done  in  Gothic 
architecture,  of  the  merchant  princes  in  this  trade,  sand- 
wiched between  huge  piles  of  lumber,  rising  white  and 
high  in  the  sun,  and  giving  out  resinous,  piney  odors. 
Not  far  from  this  vicinity  stands  the  old  Van  Reusselaer 
homestead,  guarded  by  a  few  primeval  forest  trees  that 
have  survived  the  wreck  of  time  and  still  keep  their 
ancient  watch  and  ward.  The  old  house,  I  have  been 
told,  is  now  deserted  of  all  save  an  elderly  lady,  one  of 
the  last  of  the  descendants  of  the  long  and  ancient  line 
of  Van  Rensselaer.  Numerous  points  of  interest  dot  the 
city  in  all  directions,  from  limit  to  limit,  and  claim  the 
attention  of  the  stranger.  Among  the  most  prominent 
of  these  is,  of  course,  the  new  Capitol  building  now  in 
process  of  construction  at  the  head  of  State  street.  A 
very  pretty  model  of  the  structure  is  on  exhibition  in  a 
small  wooden  building  standing  at  the  entrance  to  the 
grounds,  which  gives,  I  should  judge,  a  clever  idea  of 
what  the  future  monumental  pile  is  to  be  like.  Its 
height  is  very  imposing,  and  the  tall  towers  and  minarets 
which  rise  from  its  roof  will  give  it  an  appearance  of  still 
greater  grandeur.  It  is  built  of  granite  quarried  from 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  is  in  the  form  of  a 
parallelogram,  surrounding  an  open  court.  Had  I  a 
sufficient  knowledge  of  architecture  to  enable  me  to 
talk  of  orders,  of  pilasters,  columns,  entablatures  and 


30         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

facades,  I  might  perhaps  give  my  readers  a  clearer  idea 
of  the  magnificence  of  this  new  structure,  which  will 
stand  without  a  rival,  in  this  country  at  least,  and  may 
even  dare  to  compete  with  the  marvelous  splendor  of 
St.  Peter's. 

The  old  Capitol  and  the  State  Library  stand  just  in  front 
of  the  new  building,  and  obscure  the  view  from  the  foot 
of  State  street.  The  Senate  and  Assembly  chambers  in 
the  old  building  have  an  antiquated  air,  with  their 
straight-backed  chairs  upholstered  in  green  and  red, 
and  the  rough  stairways  leading  to  the  cupola,  through 
an  unfurnished  attic,  are  suggestive  of  accident.  In 
this  cupola,  once  upon  a  time,  in  the  year  1832,  a  certain 
Mr.  Weaver,  tired  of  life  and  its  turmoil,  swung  him- 
self out  of  it  on  a  rope.  So  the  cupola  has  its  bit  of 
history.  In  this  neighborhood,  on  State  street,  above 
the  Library,  is  located  the  Bureau  of  Military  Statistics, 
which  is  well  worth  a  visit  from  every  New  Yorker 
who  takes  a  pride  in  the  military  glory  of  his  native 
State.  One  is  greeted  at  the  entrance  with  a  host  of 
mementoes  and  reminders  of  war-days,  which  bring 
back  a  flood  of  patriotic  memories.  Here  is  a  collection 
of  nine  hundred  battle  flags,  all  belonging  to  the  State, 
most  of  them  torn  and  tattered  in  hard  service,  and  in- 
scribed with  the  names  of  historic  fields  into  which  they 
went  fresh  and  bright,  and  out  of  which  they  came 
smoked  and  begrimed,  and  torn  with  the  conflict  of 
battle.  Here  are  old  canteens  which  have  furnished 
solace  to  true  comrades  ou  many  occasions  of  mutual 
hardship.  Here,  too,  is  the  Lincoln  collection,  with  its 
sad  reminders  of  the  nation's  loved  and  murdered  Presi- 
dent; and  in  a  corner  of  the  same  room  the  Ellsworth 


ALBANY.  31 

collection  is  displayed  from  a  glass  case.  His  gun  and 
the  Zouave  suit  worn  by  him  at  the  time  of  his  death 
hang  side  by  side,  and  there,  too,  is  the  flag  which,  with 
impetuous  bravery,  he  tore  down  from  the  top  of  the 
Marshall  House  at  Alexandria,  Virginia.  In  the  same 
case  hangs  the  picture  of  his  avenger,  Captain  Brownell, 
and  the  rifle  with  which  he  shot  Jackson.  In  another 
part  of  the  room  may  be  seen  the  original  letter  of 
Governor,  then  Secretary,  Dix,  which  afterwards  be- 
came so  famous,  and  which  created,  in  a  great  measure, 
the  wave  of  popularity  that  carried  him  into  the  guber- 
natorial chair. 

The  letter  reads  as  follows : — 

"  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 
January,  29th,  1861. 

"Tell  Lieutenant  Caldwell  to  arrest  Captain  Bresh- 
wood,  assume  command  of  the  cutter,  and  obey  the 
order  I  gave  through  you.  If  Captain  Breshwood, 
after  arrest,  undertakes  to  interfere  with  the  command 
of  the  cutter,  tell  Lieutenant  Caldwell  to  consider  him 
as  a  mutineer  and  treat  him  accordingly.  If  any  one 
attempts  to  haul  down  the  American  flag,  shoot  him  on 
the  spot. 

"JOHN  A.  Dix,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury" 

The  captured  office  chairs  used  by  Jen0.  Davis,  in 
Richmond,  the  lock  from  John  Brown's  prison  door  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  pieces  of  plate  from  the  monitors  off 
Charleston,  torpedoes  from  James  River,  the  bell  on 
the  old  guard-house  at  Fort  Fisher,  captured  slave 
chains,  miniature  pontoon  bridges,  draft  boxes  and  cap- 
tured Rebel  shoes,  may  be  mentioned  as  a  few  among 
the  many  curiosities  of  this  military  bureau.  Here,  too, 


32        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

may  be  seen  the  pardon,  from  Lincoln,  for  Roswell 
Mclntire,  taken  from  his  dead  body  at  the  battle  of 
Five  Forks ;  and  near  by  hangs  the  picture  of  Sergeant 
Amos  Humiston,  of  the  154th  New  York  Regiment, 
who  was  identified  by  means  of  the  picture  of  his  three 
children,  found  clasped  in  his  hand  as  he  lay  dead  on 
the  field  of  Gettysburg.  In  this  room,  also,  is  the 
Jamestown  (New  York)  flag,  made  by  the  ladies  of  that 
place  in  six  hours  after  the  attack  on  Sumter,  and 
which  was  displayed  from  the  office  of  the  Jamestown 
Journal.  Mr.  Daly,  the  polite  janitor  of  the  building, 
is  always  happy  to  receive  visitors,  and  will  show  them 
every  courtesy. 

The  Geological  Rooms,  on  State  street,  are  also  well 
worthy  the  time  and  attention  of  the  visitor.  Large 
collections  of  the  various  kinds  of  rock  which  underlie 
the  soil  of  our  country  are  here  on  exhibition,  as,  also, 
the  coral  formations  and  geological  curiosities  of  all 
ages.  In  an  upper  room  towers  the  mammoth  Cohoes 
mastodon,  whose  skeleton  reaches  from  floor  to  ceiling. 
This  monster  of  a  former  age  was  accidentally  discovered 
at  that  place  by  parties  who  were  excavating  for  a 
building.  In  these  rooms,  also,  there  are  huge  jaws  of 
whales,  which  enable  one  to  better  understand  the  dis- 
position of  the  Bible  whales,  and  how  easy  it  must  have 
been  for  them  to  gulp  down  two  or  three  Jonahs,  if  one 
little  Jonah  should  fail  to  appease  the  delicate  appetite 
of  such  sportive  fishes.  I  couldn't  help  thinking  of  the 
lost  races  that  must  have  peopled  the  earth  when  this 
old  world  was  young — when  these  fossils  were  under- 
going formation,  and  these  mastodons  made  the  ground 
tremble  beneath  their  tread. 


ALBANY.  33 

• 

Where  are  these  peoples  now,  and  where  their  unre- 
vealed  histories  ?  Shall  we  never  know  more  of  them 
than  Runic  stones  and  mysterious  mounds  can  unfold  ? 
These  reminders  of  the  things  that  once  had  an  exist- 
ence but  have  now  vanished  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
and  well  nigh  from  the  memory  of  men — these  things 
are  full  of  suggestion,  to  say  the  least,  and  are  quite  apt 
to  correct  any  undue  vanity  which  may  take  possession 
of  us,  or  any  large  idea  of  future  fame.  We  may,  per- 
haps, create  a  ripple  in  the  surface  of  remembrance 
which  marks  the  place  where  our  human  existence  went 
out,  and  which,  at  the  furthest,  may  last  a  few  hundred 
years.  But  who  can  hope  for  more  than  that,  or  hoping, 
can  reasonably  expect  to  find  the  wish  realized?  "There 
are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio,  than  are 
dreamt  of  in  our  philosophy." 

The  Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  on 
Eagle  street,  is  one  of  the  finest  church  structures  in 
Albany.  It  is  built  of  brown  freestone,  in  the  Gothic 
style  of  architecture,  and  its  two  towers  are  each  two 
hundred-and-eighty  feet  in  height.  Its  cost  was  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  interior  decorations 
are  beautiful,  and  the  rich  stained  glass  windows  are 
the  gifts  of  sister  societies.  On  Easter  mornings  the 
Cathedral  is  sure  to  be  crowded  by  people  of  all  sects 
and  creeds,  brought  there  to  witness  the  joyous  Easter 
services  which  terminate  the  long  fast  of  Lent. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  city,  on  Patroon's 
Hill,  is  situated  the  Dudley  Observatory,  where  on 
clear  summer  nights  Albanians  come  to  gaze  at  the  stars 
and  the  moon,  through  the  large  Observatory  refractor. 


34        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

I 

The  structure  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  eighty- 
six  feet  long  and  seventy  feet  deep. 

One  of  the  first  peculiarities  which  attracts  the 
attention  of  the  non-resident  of  Albany  is  the  appear- 
ance of  the  business  portion  of  State  street,  in  the 
forenoon,  from  eight  o'clock  until  twelve.  Any  time 
between  these  hours  the  street,  from  the  lower  end  of 
Capitol  Park  down  to  Pearl  street,  is  transformed  into 
a  vast  market-place.  Meat-wagons,  vegetable  carts, 
restaurants  on  wheels,  and  all  sorts  of  huckstering  estab- 
lishments, are  backed  up  to  the  sidewalk,  on  either  side, 
blocking  the  way  and  so  filling  the  wide  avenue  that 
there  is  barely  room  for  the  street-car  in  its  passage  up 
and  down  the  hill.  The  descendants  of  Killian  Van 
Rensselaer  and  the  aristocratic  Ten  Eycks  and  Van 
Woerts,  of  Albany,  should  exhibit  enterprise  enough,  I 
think,  to  erect  a  city  market  and  spare  State  street  this 
spectacle. 

The  manufacturing  interest  of  Albany  consists  largely 
of  stove  works,  in  which  department  it  competes  with 
its  near  neighbor,  Troy.  This  flourishing  city,  of  about 
forty-eight  thousand  souls,  is  seven  miles  distant  from 
Albany,  up  the  river,  and  is  in  manifold  communication 
witli  it  by  railroads  on  both  sides  of  the  Hudson,  as  well 
as  by  street  railway.  Steam  cars  run  between  Albany 
and  Troy  half  hourly,  during  the  day  and  far  into  the 
night,  and  one  always  encounters  a  stream  of  people 
between  these  two  places,  whose  current  sets  both  ways, 
at  all  times  and  seasons.  Troy  is  at  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion on  the  Hudson  and  communicates  by  street  car  with 
Cohoes,  Lansingburg  and  Waterford.  Cohoes  is  a  place 


STATE  STREET  AND  CAPITOL,  ALBANY,   N.  Y. 


ALBANY.  35 

of  great  natural  beauty,  and  the  Cataract  Falls  of  the 
,  Mohawk  River  at  that  place  add  an  element  of  wild 
grandeur  to  the  scenery.  One  of  the  large,  rocky  islands 
in  the  river,  known  as  Simmons'  Island,  is  a  popular 
resort  for  picnic  excursions,  and  is  a  delightful  place  in 
summer,  with  its  groves  of  forest  trees,  and  the  pleasant 
noise  of  waters  around  its  base.  The  place  seems  haunted 
by  an  atmosphere  of  Indian  legend,  and  one  could  well 
imagine  the  departed  warriors  of  the  lost  tribes  of  the 
Mohawk  treading  these  wild  forest  paths,  and  making 
eloquent  "talks"  before  their  red  brothers  gathered 
around  the  council  fire. 

The  Mohawk  and  Hudson  rivers  unite  at  Troy,  and 
seek  a  common  passage  to  the  sea.  Mrs.  Willard's 
Seminary  for  young  ladies  is  located  in  this  city,  and  is 
a  standard  institution  of  learning.  Many  of  the  streets 
of  Troy  are  remarkably  clean  and  finely  shaded,  and 
handsome  residences  and  business  blocks  adorn  them. 
The  city  is  also  a  headquarters  for  Spiritualism  in  this 
section  of  the  country.  The  Spiritualistic  Society  has,  I 
am  told,  a  flourishing,  progressive  Lyceum,  which 
supersedes,  with  them,  the  orthodox  Sunday  school,  and 
the  exercises,  consisting  in  part  of  marches  and  recita- 
tions, are  conducted  in  a  spirited  and  interesting  manner. 

Foundries  for  hollow-ware  and  stoves  constitute  the 
leading  branch  of  manufacture  in  the  city  of  Troy.  To 
one  not  familiar  with  the  process  by  which  iron  is  shaped 
into  the  various  articles  of  common  use  among  us,  a  visit 
to  the  foundries  of  Troy  or  Albany  would  be  full  of 
interest  and  instruction.  Piles  of  yellow  sand  are  lying  in 
the  long  buildings  used  as  foundries,  while  on  either  side 
the  room  workmen  are  busily  engaged  fashioning  the 


36         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

wet  sand  into  moulds  for  the  reception  of  the  melted 
iron.  Originally  the  sand  is  of  a  bright  yellow  color, 
but  it  soon  becomes  a  dingy  brown,  by  repeated  use  in 
cooling  the  liquid  metal. 

Each  moulder  has  his  "  floor,"  or  special  amount  of 
room  allotted  him  for  work,  and  here,  during  the  forenoon, 
and  up  to  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  is  very 
busy  indeed,  preparing  for  the  "  pouring "  operation. 
Pig  iron,  thrown  into  a  huge  cauldron  or  boiler,  and 
melted  to  a  white  heat,  is  then  poured,  from  a  kettle  lined 
with  clay,  into  the  sand-moulds,  and  in  a  remarkably 
short  space  of  time  the  greenish- white  liquid  which  you 
saw  flowing  into  a  tiny,  black  aperture  is  shaken  out  of 
the  sand  by  the  workmen,  having  been  transformed  into 
portions  of  stoves.  These  go  to  the  polishing  room,  and 
thence  to  the  finishing  apartment,  where  the  detached 
pieces  are  hammered  together,  with  deafening  noise. 

Troy  rejoices  also  in  a  paper  boat  manufactory — the 
boats  being  made  especially  for  racing  and  feats  of  skill. 
They  find  sale  principally  in  foreign  markets,  and  at 
stated  seasons  divide  the  attention  of  the  English  with 
the  "  Derby."  The  boats  are  made  of  layers  of  brown 
paper  put  together  with  shellac. 

There  is  a  large  society  of  Grand  Army  men  in  Albany, 
one  Post  numbering  five  or  six  hundred  members. 
Their  rooms  are  tastefully  decorated,  and  hung  with 
patriotic  pictures,  which  make  the  blood  thrill  anew,  as 
in  the  days  of  '61.  A  miniature  fort  occupies  the  centre 
of  the  room,  and  emblematic  cannon  and  crossed  swords 
are  to  be  seen  in  conspicuous  places. 

A  trip  down  the  Hudson,  in  summer,  from  Albany 
to  New  York,  is  said  to  afford  some  of  the  finest  scenery 


ALBANY.  37 

in  the  world,  not  excepting  the  famous  sail  on  the  castled 
Rhine ;  and  the  large  river  boats  which  leave  Albany 
wharf  daily,  for  our  American  London,  are,  indeed, 
floating  palaces.  The  capital  city  of  the  Empire  State  is 
not,  therefore,  without  its  attractions,  despite  the  fact 
that  it  was  settled  by  the  Dutch,  and  that  a  sort  of  Rip 
Van  Winkle  sleep  seems,  at  times,  to  have  fastened  itself 
upon  the  drowsy  spirjt  of  Albanian  enterprise. 


CHAPTER  II. 

BOSTON. 

Geographical  Location  of  Boston. — 'Ancient  Names. — Etymology 
of  the  Word  Massachusetts. — Changes  in  the  Peninsula. — Noted 
Points  of  Interest. — Boston  Common. — Old  Elm. — Duel  Under 
its  Branches. — Soldiers'  Monument. — Fragmentary  History. — - 
Courtship  on  the  Common. — Faneuil  Hall  and  Market. — Old 
State  House. — King's  Chapel. — Brattle  Square  Church. — New 
State  House.— New  Post  Office.— Old  South  Church.— Birth- 
place  of  Franklin. — "  News  Letter." — City  Hall. — Custom 
House. — Providence  Kailroad  Station. — Places  of  General  In- 
terest. 

BOSTON  sits  like  a  queen  at  the  head  of  her  harbcr 
on  the  Massachusetts  coast,  and  weal's  her  crown 
of  past  and  present  glory  with  an  easy  and  self-satisfied 
grace.  Her  commercial  importance  is  large ;  her  ships 
float  on  many  seas ;  and  she  rejoices  now  in  the  same 
uncompromising  spirit  of  independence  which  controlled 
the  actions  of  the  celebrated  "  Tea  Party  "  in  the  pioneer 
days  of  '76.  Her  safe  harbor  is  one  of  the  best  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard,  and  is  dotted  with  over  a  hundred 
islands.  On  some  of  these,  garrisoned  forts  look  grimly 
seaward. 

Boston  is  built  on  a  peninsula  about  four  miles  in 
circumference,  and  to  this  fact  may  be  attributed  the 
origin  of  her  first  name,  Shawmntt,  that  word  signifying 
in  the  Indian  vocabulary  a  peninsula.  Its  second 
name,  Tremount,  took  its  rise  from  the  three  peaks  of 
Beacon  Hill,  prominently  seen  from  Charlestown  by  the 
first  settlers  there.  Many  of  the  colonists  were  from  old 
Boston,  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  and  on  the  seventh  of 
September,  1630,  this  name  supplanted  the  first  two. 

38 


BOSTON.  39 

In  this  connection  may  be  given  the  etymology  of  the 
word  Massachusetts,  which  is  somewhat  curious.  It  is 
said  that  the  red  Sachem  who  governed  in  this  part  of 
the  country  had  his  seat  on  a  hill  about  two  leagues 
south  of  Boston.  It  lay  in  the  shape  of  an  Indian 
arrow's  head,  which  in  their  language  was  called  Mos. 
Wetuset,  pronounced  Wechusd,  was  also  their  name  for 
a  hill,  and  the  Sachem's  seat  was  therefore  named 
Mosentuset,  which  a  slight  variation  changed  into  the 
name  afterwards  received  by  the  colony.  Boston,  as 
the  centre  of  this  colony,  began  from  the  first  to  assume 
the  importance  of  the  first  city  of  New  England.  Its 
history  belongs  not  only  to  itself,  but  to  the  country  at 
large,  as  the  pioneer  city  in  the  grand  struggle  for  con- 
stitutional and  political  liberty.  A  large  majority  of 
the  old  landmarks  which  connected  it  with  the  stormy 
days  of  the  past,  and  stood  as  monuments  of  its  primeval 
history,  are  now  obliterated  by  time  anoj  the  steady  march 
of  improvements.  The  face  of  the  country  is  changed. 
The  three  peaks  of  Beacon  Hill,  which  once  lifted  them- 
selves to  the  height  of  a  hundred  and  thirty  feet  above 
the  sea,  are  now  cut  down  into  insignificant  knolls.  The 
waters  of  the  "  black  bay "  which  swelled  around  its 
base  have  receded  to  give  place  to  the  encroachments  of 
the  city.  Made  lands,  laid  out  in  streets  and  set  thick 
with  dwellings,  supplant  the  mud  flats  formerly  covered 
by  the  tide.  Thousands  of  acres  which  were  once  the 
bed  of  the  harbor  are  now  densely  populated. 

The  house  on  Harrison  avenue  where  the  writer  is 
at  present  domiciled  is  located  on  the  spot  which  once 
Was  occupied  by  one  of  the  best  wharves  in  the  city. 
The  largest  ocean  craft  moored  to  this  wharf,  on  ac- 
count of  the  great  depth  of  water  flowing  around  it. 


40  PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  land  has  steadily  encroached  on  the  water,  until  the 
peninsula  that  was  is  a  peninsula  no  longer,  and  its 
former  geographical  outlines  have  dropped  out  of  sight 
in  the  whirl  and  rush  of  the  populous  and  growing  city. 
A  few  old  landmarks  of  the  past,  however,  still  remain, 
linking  the  now  and  the  then,  and  among  the  most 
prominent  of  these  are  Faneuil  Hall,  the  Old  South 
Church,  which  was  founded  in  1660,  King's  Chapel,  the 
Old  Granary  Burying-ground,  Brattle  Square  Church, 
quite  recently  demolished,  the  old  State  House,  and 
Boston  Common.  The  Common  antedates  nearly  all 
other  special  features  of  the  city,  and  is  the  pride  of 
Bostonians.  Here  juvenile  Boston  comes  in  winter  to 
enjoy  the  exciting  exercise  of  "  coasting,"  and  woe  to  the 
unwary  foot  passenger  who  may  chance  to  collide  with 
the  long  sleds  full  of  noisy  boys  which  shoot  like  black 
streaks  from  the  head  of  Beacon  street  Mall,  down  the 
•diagonal  length  yf  the  Common,  to  the  junction  of 

.  Boylston  and  Tremont  streets.  This  winter  (1874-5), 
owing  to  several  unfortunate  accidents  to  passers-by 
across  the  snowy  roads  of  the  coasters,  elevated  bridges 
have  been  erected,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people  with- 
out interfering  with  the  rights  of  the  boys.  The  Com- 
mon was  originally  a  fifty-acre  lot  belonging  to  a  Mr. 
Blackstone.  This  was  in  1633.  It  was  designed  as  a 
cow  pasture  and  training  ground,  and  was  sold  to  the 
people  of  Boston  the  next  year,  1634,  for  thirty  pounds. 

..  'The  city  was  taxed  for  this  purpose  to  the  amount  of 
'.^'not  less  than  five  shillings  for  each  inhabitant.  Mr. 
^s*'  Blackstone  afterwards  removed  to  Cumberland,  Rhode 
^f-  Island,  where  he  died,  in  the  spring  of  1675.  It  is  said 
'f  *"  that  John  Hancock's  cows  were  pastured  on  the  Common 
in  the  days  of  the  Revolution.  On  the  tenth  of  May, 

*f  Jr 


BOSTON.  41 

1830,  the  city  authorities  forbade  the  use  of  the  Common 
for  cows,  at  which  time  it  was  inclosed  by  a  two-rail 
fence.  The  handsome  iron  paling  which  now  surrounds 
the  historic  area  has  long  since  taken  the  place  of  the 
ancient  fence. 

Perhaps  the  most  noticeablej  certainly  the  most  fa- 
mous object  on  Boston  Common,  is  the  Great  Tree,  or 
Old  Elm,  which  stands  in  a  hollow  of  rich  soil  near  a 
permanent  pond  of  water,  not  far  from  the  centre  of 
the  enclosure.  It  is  of  unknown  age.  It  was  probably 
over  a  hundred  years  old  in  1722.  Governor  Winthrop 
came  to  Boston  in  1630,  but  before  that  period  the  tree 
probably  had  its  existence.  It  antedates  the  arrival  of 
the  first  settlers,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  the 
Indian  Shawmutt  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  under  its 
pendent  branches.  In  1844  its  height  was  given  at 
seventy-two  and  a  half  feet — girth,  one  foot  above  the 
ground,  twenty-two  and  a  half  feet.  The  storms  of 
over  two  centuries  have  vented  their  fury  upon  it  and 
destroyed  its  graceful  outlines.  But  in  its  age  and  de- 
crepitude it  has  been  tenderly  nursed  and  partially 
rejuvenated.  Broken  limbs,  torn  off  by  violent  gales, 
have  been  replaced  by  means  of  iron  clamps,  and  such 
skill  as  tree  doctors  may  use.  In'  the  last  century  a 
hollow  orifice  in  its  trunk  was  covered  with  canvas  and 
its  edges  protected  by  a  mixture  of  clay  and  other  sub- 
stances. Later,  in  1854,  Mr.  J.  V.  C.  Smith,  Mayor 
of  the  city,  placed  around  it  an  iron  fence  bearing  the 
following  inscription : — 

"THE  OLD  ELM." 

"This  tree  has  been  standing  here  for  an  unknown 
period.  It  is  believed  to  have  existed  before  the  settle- 
ment of  Boston,  being  full-grown  in  1722.  Exhibited 


42  PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

marks  of  old  age  in  1792,  and  was  nearly  destroyed  by 
a  storm  in  1832.  Protected  by  an  iron  inclosure  in 
1854." 

What  a  long  array  of  exciting  events  has  this  tree 
witnessed !  In  the  stirring  days  of  the  Revolution  the 
British  army  was  encamped  around  it.  In  1812  the 
patriot  army  occupied  the  same  place,  in  protecting  the 
town  against  the  invasion  of  a  foreign  foe.  Tumultuous 
crowds  have  here  assembled  on  election  and  Independ- 
ence days,  and  its  sturdy  branches  have  faced  alike  the 
anger  of  the  elements  and  the  wrath  of  man.  Public 
executions  have  taken  place  under  its  shadow,  and 
witches  have  dangled  from  its  branches  in  death's  last 
agonies.  Here,  in  1740,  Rev.  George  Whitfield  preached 
his  farewell  sermon  to  an  audience  of  thirty  thousand 
people  ;  and  here,  also,  at  an  earlier  date,  old  Matoonas, 
of  the  Nipmuck  tribe,  was  shot  to  death  by  the  dusky 
warriors  of  Sagamore  John,  on  a  charge  of  committing 
the  first  murder  in  Massachusetts  Colony.  An  incident 
of  still  more  romantic  interest  belongs  to  the  history  of 
the  Old  Elm.  On  July  third,  1728,  this  spot  was  the 
scene  of  a  mortal  combat  between  two  young  men 
belonging  to  the  upper  circle  of  Boston  society.  The 
cause  of  dispute  was  the  possession  of  an  unknown  fair 
one.  The  names  of  the  young  men  were  Benjamin 
Woodbridge  and  Henry  Phillips,  both  about  twenty 
years  old.  The  time  was  evening,  the  weapons  rapiers, 
and  Woodbridge  was  fatally  dispatched  by  a  thrust 
from  the  rapier  of  his  antagonist.  Phillips  fled  to  a 
British  ship  of  war  lying  in  the  harbor,  and  was  borne 
by  fair  breezes  to  English  shores.  He  did  not  long  sur- 
vive his  opponent,  however,  dying,  it  is  said,  of  despair, 
shortly  after  his  arrival  in  England. 


BOSTON.  43 

Frog  Pond,  or  Fountain  Pond,  near  the  Old  Elm, 
has  been  transformed  from  a  low,  marshy  spot  of  stag- 
nant water,  to  the  clear  sheet  which  is  now  the  delight  of 
the  boys.  October  twenty-fifth,  1848,  the  water  from 
Cochituate  Lake  was  introduced  through  this  pond,  and 
in  honor  of  the  occasion  a  large  procession  marched 
through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city  to  the  Common. 
Addresses,  hymns,  prayers,  and  songs,  were  the  order 
of  the  day,  and  when  the  pure  water  of  the  lake  leaped 
through  the  fountain  gate,  the  ringing  of  bells  and 
crash  of  cannon  attested  the  joy  of  the  people. 

Near  the  Old  Elm  and  the  Frog  Pond,  on  Flagstaff 
Hill,  the  corner-stone  of  a  Soldiers'  Monument  was  laid, 
September  eighteenth,  1871.  Some  idea  of  the  style  of  the 
monument  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  descrip- 
tion : — "  Upon  a  granite  platform  will  rest  the  plinth, 
in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  with  four  panels,  in  which 
will  be  inserted  bas-reliefs  representing  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  the  Navy,  the  Departure  for  the  War  and 
the  Return.  At  each  of  the  four  corners  will  be  a 
statue,  of  heroic  size,  representing  Peace,  History,  the 
Army,  and  the  Navy.  The  die  upon  the  plinth  will 
also  be  richly  sculptured,  and  upon  it,  surrounding  the 
shaft  in  alto-relievo,  will  be  four  allegorical  figures  rep- 
resenting the  North,  South,  East  and  West.  The  shaft 
is  to  be  a  Roman  Doric  column,  the  whole  to  be  sur- 
mounted by  a  colossal  statue  of  America  resting  on  a 
hemisphere,  guarded  by  four  figures  of  the  American 
eagle,  with  outspread  wings.  'America'  will  hold  in  her 
left  hand  the  national  standard,  and  in  her  right  she  will 
support  a  sheathed  sword,  and  wreaths  for  the  victors. 
The  extreme  height  of  the  monument  will  be  ninety  feet. 
The  art'st  is  Martin  Millmore,  of  Boston." 


44        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

In  the  year  1668,  a  certain  Mr.  Dunton  visited 
Boston,  and  wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  friends  in 
England.  It  will  serve  to  show  the  custom  of  Bos- 
touians  on  training  day,  and  recall  some  of  the  scenes 
which  transpired  over  two  hundred  years  ago  on  the 
historic  Common.  "  It  is  a  custom  here,"  he  says,  "  for 
all  that  can  bear  arms  to  go  out  on  a  training  day.  I 
thought  a  pike  was  best  for  a  young  soldier,  so  I  carried  a 
pike;  'twas  the  first  time  I  ever  was  in  arms.  Having 
come  into  the  field,  the  Captain  called  us  into  line  to 
go  to  prayer,  and  then  prayed  himself,  and  when  the 
exercise  was  done  the  Captain  likewise  concluded  with 
a  prayer.  Solemn  prayer  upon  a  field,  on  training  day, 
I  never  knew  but  in  New  England,  where  it  seems  it  is 
a  common  custom.  About  three  o'clock,  our  exercises 
and  prayers  being  over,  we  had  a  very  noble  dinner,  to 
which  all  the  clergymen  were  invited." 

In  1640,  Arthur  Perry  was  Town  Drummer  for  all 
public  purposes.  There  being  no  meeting-house  bell  in 
town,  he  called  the  congregation  together  with  his  drum. 
"  He  joined  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Com- 
pany in  that  capacity,  for  which  yearly  service  he  re- 
ceived five  pounds.  The  second  additional  musical  instru- 
ment was  a  clarionet,  performed  on  by  a  tall,  strapping 
fellow  with  but  one  eye,  who  headed  the  Ancient  and 
Honorable  a  few  strides."  The  first  band  of  music  used  in 
Boston  was  in  1790,  at  the  funeral  of  Colonel  Joseph 
Jackson.  Yearly,  for  a  period  of  between  two  and  three 
hundred  years,  this  military  company  has  appeared  on 
the  Common,  to  be  received  by  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  with  his  aides,  who  appointed  the  new  commis- 
sions for  the  year  to  come  and  received  those  for  the 
year  just  past.  Their  anniversary  occurred  on  the  first 
Monday  in  June. 


BOSTON.  45 

The  Brewer  Fountain,  the  Deer  Park  and  the  Tremont 
and  Beacon  Street  Malls  complete  the  list  of  conspicuous 
attractions  on  the  Common.  The  Beacon  Street  Mall  is 
perhaps  the  finest,  being  heavily  shaded  by  thickly-set 
rows  of  American  elms.  A  particular  portion  of  this 
mall  is  described  as  the  scene  of  at  least  one  courtship, 
and  how  many  more  may  have  transpired  in  the  neigh- 
borhood history  or  tradition  tells  us  not ! 

The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-table  loved  the  school- 
mistress who  partook  of  her  daily  food  at  the  same  board 
with  himself  and  listened  quietly  to  his  wise  morning 
talks,  with  only  an  occasional  sensible  reply.  The 
schoolmistress  returned  his  passion,  but  the  young  Auto- 
crat, uncertain  of  his  fate,  rashly  determined  that  if  she 
said  him  "nay"  to  this  most  important  question  of  his 
life,  he  would  take  passage  in  the  next  steamer  bound 
for  Liverpool,  and  never  look  upon  her  face  again.  The 
fateful  hour  which  was  to  decide  his  fate  approached, 
and  the  Autocrat  proposed  a  walk.  They  took  the 
direction  of  the  Beacon  Street  Mall,  and  what  happened 
next  his  own  charming  pen-picture  best  describes.  , 

"  It  was  on  the  Common  that  we  were  walking.  The 
matt  or  boulevard  of  our  Common,  you  know,  has 
various  branches  leading  from  it  in  different  directions. 
One  of  these  runs  down  from  opposite  Joy  street,  south- 
ward, across  the  length  of  the  whole  Common,  to  Boyl- 
ston  street.  We  called  it  the  long  path,  and  were  fond 
of  it. 

"I  felt  very  weak  indeed  (though  of  a  tolerably 
robust  habit)  as  we  came  opposite  the  head  of  this  path 
on  that  morning.  I  think  I  tried  to  speak  twice  with- 
out making  myself  distinctly  audible.  At  last  I  got  out 
the  question  : — 'Will  you  take  the  long  path  with  me  ?' 


46         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

" l  Certainly,'  said  the  schoolmistress,  '  with  much 
pleasure.' 

" l  Think,'  I  said,  '  before  you  answer  ;  if  you  take  the 
long  path  with  me  now,  I  shall  interpret  it  that  we  are 
to  part  no  more!'  The  schoolmistress  stepped  back 
with  a  sudden  movement,  as  if  an  arrow  had  struck  her. 

"  One  of  the  long,  granite  blocks  used  as  seats  was 
hard  by,  the  one  you  may  still  see  close  by  the  Ginko 
tree.  '  Pray,  sit  down/  I  said. 

" '  No,  no,'  she  answered  softly,  '  I  will  walk  the  long 
pa'h  with  you.' " 

Propositions  to  convert  the  Common  into  public 
thoroughfares  have  ever  met  with  stout  resistance  from 
"  we  the  people  " — the  Commoners  of  Boston — and 
only  this  winter  a  meeting  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  for 
the  purpose  of  protesting  against  this  causeless  desecra- 
tion. The  occasion  of  the  meeting  was  a  clique  move- 
ment to  have  a  street-car  track  run  through  the  sacred 
ground.  One  of  the  speakers — a  workingman — waxed 
eloquent  on  the  theme  of  the  "  poor  man's  park,  where 
in  summer  a  soiled  son  of  labor  might  buy  a  cent  apple 
and  lounge  at  his  ease  under  the  shady  trees.-' 

In  1734,  by  vote  of  the  town,  a  South  End  and 
North  End  Market  were  established.  Before  this  the 
people  were  supplied  with  meats  and  vegetables  at  their 
own  doors.  In  1740,  Peter  Faneuil  oifered  to  build  a 
market-house  at  his  own  expense,  and  present  it  to  the 
town.  His  proposition  was  carried  by  seven  majority. 
Faneuil  Hall,  the  "  Cradle  of  Liberty,"  was  first  built 
two  stories  high,  forty  feet  wide,  and  one  hundred  feet 
in  length.  It  was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire  in  1761,  and 
in  1805  it  was  enlarged  to  eighty  feet  in  width  and 
twenty  feet  greater  elevation.  "  The  Hall  is  never  let  for 


BOSTON.  47 

money,"  but  is  at  the  disposal  of  the  people  whenever  a 
sufficient  number  of  persons,  complying  with  certain 
regulations,  ask  to  have  it  opened.  The  city  charter  of 
Boston  contains  a  provision  forbidding  the  sale  or  lease 
of  this  Hall.  For  a  period  of  over  eighty  years — from 
the  time  of  its  erection  until  1822 — all  town  meetings 
were  held  within  its  walls.  It  is  "  peculiarly  fitted  for 
popular  assemblies,  possessing  admirable  acoustic  prop- 
erties." 

The  capacity  of  the  Hall  is  increased  by  the  absence 
of  all  seats  on  the  floor — the  gallery  only  being  pro- 
vided with  these  conveniences.  Portraits  cover  the 
walls.  Healy's  picture  of  Webster  replying  to  Hayne 
hangs  in  heavy  gilt,  back  of  the  rostrum.  Paintings  of 
the  two  Adamses,  of  General  Warren  and  Commodore 
Preble,  of  Edward  Everett  and  Governor  Andrew, 
adorn  other  portions  of  the  Hall.  Nor  are  Lincoln  and 
Washington  forgotten.  The  pictured  faces  of  these 
noble  patriots  of  the  past  seem  to  shed  a  mysterious  in- 
fluence around,  and  silently  plead  the  cause  of  right 
and  of  justice.  The  words  which  echoed  from  this  ros- 
trum in  the  days  before  the  Revolution  still  ring  down 
from  the  past,  touching  the  present  with  a  living  power 
whenever  liberty  needs  a  champion  or  the  people  an 
advocate. 

Faneuil  Hall  Market,  or  Quincy  Market,  as  it  is 
popularly  called,  grew  out  of  a  recommendation  by 
Mayor  Quincy,  in  1823.  Two  years  later  the  corner- 
stone was  laid,  and  in  1827  the  building  was  completed. 
It  is  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  long,  fifty  feet 
wide,  and  two  stories  high.  Its  site  was  reclaimed  from 
the  tide  waters,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars were  expended  in  its  erection. 


48        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  capital  for  its  construction  was  managed  in  such 
a  judicious  way  that  not  only  the  market  was  built,  but 
six  new  streets  were  opened  and  a  seventh  enlarged, 
without  a  cent  of  city  tax  or  a  dollar's  increase  of  the 
city's  debt. 

The  Old  State  House  was  located  on  the  site  of  the 
first  public  market,  at  the  head  or  western  end  of  State 
street.  It  was  commenced  with  a  bequest  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds  from  Robert  Keayne,  the  first  commander 
of  the  "Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company." 
It  was  known  as  the  Town  House,  and  was  erected  about 
the  year  1670.  The  present  Old  State  House  was  built 
in  1748,  on  the  same  site.  Its  vicinity  is  historic.  The 
square  in  State  street  below  the  Old  State  House,  was 
the  scene  of  the  Boston  massacre,  March  fifth,  1770. 
"The  funeral  of  the  victims  of  the  massacre  was 
attended  by  an  immense  concourse  of  people  from  all 
parts  of  New  England."  About  the  same  year  also,  in 
front  of  this  Town  House,  occurred  the  famous  battle  of 
the  broom,  between  a  fencing  master  just  arrived  from 
England  and  GofF,  the  regicide.  This  English  fencer 
erected  an  elevated  platform  in  front  of  the  Town 
House  and  paraded,  sword  in  hand,  for  three  days, 
challenging  all  America  for  a  trial  of  his  skill.  At  this 
time  three  of  the  judges  who  signed  the  death  warrant 
for  beheading  Charles  the  First,  of  England,  had  escaped 
to  Boston,  and  were  concealed  by  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut.  Their  names  were  GofT, 
Whalley  and  Dixwell,  for  whom,  dead  or  alive,  Parlia- 
ment offered  one  hundred  pounds  each.  The  fencing 
master  made  such  a  stir  about  his  skill  that  Goff,  hear- 
ing of  it  at  his  place  of  concealment  in  the  woods  of 
Hadley,  came  to  Boston  and  confronted  the  wordy  hero. 


BOSTON.  49 

/ 

His  sword  was  a  birch  broom,  his  shield  a  white  oak 
cheese  slung  from  his  arm  in  a  napkin.  After  he  had 
soaked  his  broom  in  a  mud-puddle  he  mounted  the 
platform  for  battle.  The  fencing  master  ordered  him 
off,  but  Goff  stood  his  ground  and  neatly  parried  the 
first  thrust  of  the  braggart.  The  battle  then  com- 
menced in  earnest,  and  the  cheese  three  times  received 
the  sword  of  the  fencing  master.  Before  it  could  be 
withdrawn,  Goff  each  time  daubed  the  face  of  his  antag- 
onist with  the  muddy  broom,  amid  the  huzzas  of  the 
crowd  which  had  gathered  from  all  quarters  to  witness 
the  contest.  At  the  third  lunge  into  the  huge  cheese  the 
swordsman  threw  aside  his  small  blade,  and,  unsheathing 
a  broadsword,  rushed  furiously  upon  Goff. 

"Stop,  sir!"  exclaimed  Goff;  "hitherto,  you  see,  I 
have  only  played  with  you,  and  have  not  attempted  to 
hurt  you,  but  if  you  come  at  me  with  the  broadsword, 
know  that  I  will  certainly  take  your  life!" 

"Who  can  you  be?"  replied  the  other;  "you  are 
either  Goff,  Whalley  or  the  devil,  for  there  was  no  other 
man  in  England  could  beat  me  !" 

Goff  immediately  retired,  amid  the  plaudits  of  the 
crowd,  and  the  subdued  fencing  master  slunk  away 
with  chagrin. 

The  interior  arrangement  of  the  Old  State  House  has 
been  entirely  remodeled,  and  is  now  used  exclusively 
for  business. 

King's  Chapel,  at  the  corner  of  Tremont  and  School 
streets,  is  another  noteworthy  point  of  interest.  The 
corner-stone  was  laid  in  1750,  and  four  years  were  occu- 
pied in  its  construction,  the  stone  for  the  building  ma- 
terial being  imported.  Its  church-yard  was  Boston's 
first  burial-ground,  and  some  of  the  tombstones  date 


50         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

back  as  far  as  1658.  Mr.  Isaac  Johnson,  one  of  the 
founders  of  Boston,  is  said  to  have  here  found  his  last 
resting  place.  John  Winthrop,  his  son  and  grandson — 
all  governors  of  Connecticut,  lay  in  the  same  family 
tomb  in  this  yard.  Four  pastors  of  the  "  First  Church 
of  Christ  in  Boston  "  are  also  buried  here.  The  body  of 
General  Joseph  Warren  was  placed  in  King's  Chapel 
before  it  was  re-interred  at  Cambridge,  and  "dust  to 
dust"  has  been  pronounced  over  many  other  distinguished 
men  at  this  stone  church.  The  edifice  is  constructed  in 
a  peculiar  way,  with  Doric  columns  of  gray  stone,  and  is 
sure  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  stranger.  It  was  the 
first  Episcopal,  as  well  as  the  first  Unitarian  church  in 
Boston,  and  its  pulpit  is  now  the  exponent  of  Unitarian 
doctrine,  added  to  the  Church  of  England  service. 

Going  down  Washington  street  towards  Charlestown, 
we  come  to  the  famous  Brattle  Square,  and  its  church, 
which  once  consecrated  the  spot.  Here  Edward  Ever- 
ett preached  to  his  listening  flock,  and  here,  on  July 
thirtieth,  1871,  Dr.  S.  K.  Lothrop  pronounced  the  last 
sermon  within  its  walls.  Its  ancient  bell  has  ceased  to 
ring,  and  the  old-fashioned  pulpit  echoes  no  more  to  the 
tread  of  distinguished  men. 

The  first  Brattle  Square  Church  was  built  in  1699. 
It  was  torn  down  in  1772,  and  the  next  year  rebuilt  on  the 
same  site,  the  dedication  taking  place  July  twenty-fifth. 
On  the  night  of  March  sixteenth,  1776,  the  British 
under  Lord  Howe  were  encamped  in  this  neighborhood, 
some  of  the  regiments  using  Brattle  Square  Church  as  a 
barrack.  A  cannon  ball,  fired  from  Cambridge,  where 
the  American  army  was  then  stationed,  struck  the 
church,  and  was  afterwards  built  into  the  wall  of  the 
historic  edifice,  above  the  porch.  On  the  next  night 


BOSTON.  51 

ien  thousand  of  Lord  Howe's  troops  embarked  from 
Boston.  In  1871  the  building  was  sold  by  the  society, 
and  a  handsome  granite  block  now  takes  its  place. 

The  new  State  House  on  Beacon  street  is  one  of  the 
most  prominent  geographical  points  in  all  Boston,  and 
the  view  from  its  cupola  is  second  only  to  that  obtained 
from  the  glorious  height  of  Bunker  Hill  monument. 
Its  gilded  dome  is  a  conspicuous  object  far  and  near,  and 
glitters  in  the  sunlight  like  veritable  gold.  The  land 
on  which  the  State  House  stands  was  bought  by  the 
town  from  Governor  Hancock's  heirs,  and  given  to  the 
State.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  July  fourth,  1793,  the 
ceremony  being  conducted  by  the  Freemasons,  Paul 
Revere,  as  Grand  Master,  at  their  head.  The  massive 
stone  was  drawn  to  its  place  by  fifteen  white  horses, 
that  being  the  number  then  of  the  States  in  the  Union. 
Ex-Governor  Samuel  Adams  delivered  the  address. 
The  Legislature  first  convened  in  the  new  State  House 
in  January,  1798.  In  1852  it  was  greatly  enlarged,  and 
in  1867  the  interior  was  entirely  remodeled.  Chantry's 
statue  of  Washington,  the  statues  of  Webster  and  Mann, 
busts  of  Adams,  Lincoln  and  Sumner,  and  that  beauti- 
ful piece  of  art  in  marble,  the  full-length  statue  of  Gov- 
ernor Andrew,  in  the  Doric  Hall — all  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  visitor.  In  this  rotunda  there  are  also  copies 
of  the  tombstones  of  the  Washington  family  of  Bring- 
ton  Parish,  England,  presented  by  Charles  Sumner,  and 
the  torn  and  soiled  battle-flags  of  Massachusetts  regi- 
ments, hanging  in  glass  cases.  In  the  Hall  of 
Representatives  and  the  Senate  Chamber,  relics  of  the 
fast  are  scattered  about,  and  the  walls  are  adorned  with 
xx>rtraits  of  distinguished  men.  The  eastern  wing  of 
the  State  House  is  occupied  with  the  State  Library 


52         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Large  numbers  of  visitors  yearly  throng  the  building 
and  climb  the  circular  stairways  for  the  fine  view  of 
Boston  to  be  obtained  from  the  cupola. 

The  new  Post  Office  is  accounted  one  of  the  finest  public 
buildings  in  New  England.  It  has  a  frontage  on  Devon- 
shire street,  of  over  two  hundred  feet  and  occupies  the  en- 
tire square  between  Milk  and  Water  streets.  It  was  se vera  1 
years  in  building,  being  occupied  this  winter  for  the  first 
ti  me  since  the  great  fire.  Its  cost  was  something  like  three 
millions  of  dollars.  Its  style  of  architecture  is  grand  in 
the  extreme.  Groups  of  statuary  ornament  the  central 
projections  of  the  building,  and  orders  of  pilasters,  col- 
umns, entablatures  and  balustrades  add  to  it  their  elegant 
finish.  Its  roof  is  an  elaboration  of  the  Louvre  and 
Mansard  styles,  and  the  interior  arrangement  cannot  be 
surpassed  for  beauty  or  convenience.  It  has  three  street 
facades,  from  one  of  which  a  broad  staircase  leads  to  the 
four  upper  stories.  On  these  floors  are  located  import- 
ant public  offices.  The  Post  Office  corridor  is  twelve 
feet  in  height  and  extends  across  two  sides  of  the  im- 
mense building.  At  the  time  of  the  great  fire  of  1872 
this  structure  was  receiving  its  roof,  and  became  a  barrier 
against  the  onward  sweep  of  the  flames.  The  massive 
granite  walls  were  cracked  and  split,  but  they  effectually 
stopped  the  work  of  the  fire  fiend. 

In  the  heart  of  the  city,  at  the  corner  of  Milk  and 
Washington  streets,  stands  one  of  the  most  famous 
buildings  in  Boston,  and  perhaps  the  most  celebrated 
house  of  religious  worship  in  the  United  States.  It 
was  founded  in  1669,  and  received  the  name  of  the  Old 
South  Church.  The  first  building  was  made  of  cedar, 
and  stood  for  sixty  years.  In  1729  it  was  taken  down, 
and  the  present  building  erected  on  the  same  spot.  The 


BOSTON.  53 

interior  arrangement  is  described  as  having  been  exceed- 
ingly quaint,  with  its  pulpit  sounding  board,  its  high, 
square  pews,  and  double  tier  of  galleries.  During  the 
Revolution  it  was  frequently  used  for  public  meetings, 
and  Faneuil  Hall  assemblies  adjourned  to  the  Old  South 
whenever  the  size  of  the  crowd  demanded  it.  Here  the 
celebrated  "  Tea  Party  "  held  their  meetings,  and  dis- 
cussed the  measures  which  resulted  in  consigning  the 
British  tea,  together  with  the  hated  tax,  to  the  bottom 
of  Boston  Harbor.  Here  Joseph  Warren  delivered  his 
famous  oration  on  the  Boston  Massacre,  drawing  tears 
from  the  eyes  of  even  the  British  soldiery,  sent  there  to 
intimidate  him.  In  1775  the  edifice  was  occupied  by 
the  British  as  a  place  for  cavalry  drill,  and  a  grog-shop 
was  established  in  one  of  the  galleries.  In  1782  the 
building  was  put  in  repair,  and  has  stood  without  fur- 
ther change  until  the  present  time,  nearly  a  hundred 
years.  In  1872  it  was  occupied  as  a  Post  Office,  and 
has  only  been  vacated  this  winter.  Its  day  of  religious 
service  is  doubtless  over.  It  will  probably  be  used  for 
business  purposes,  but  never  again  as  a  society  sanctuary. 

Opposite  the  south  front  of  the  Old  South  Church,  on 
Milk  street,  stood  the  house  in  which  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin was  born.  Here,  on  the  seventeenth  of  January, 
1706,  the  great  philosopher  was  ushered  into  existence, 
and  on  the  same  day  was  christened  at  the  Old  South. 
When  he  was  ten  years  old,  he  worked  with  his  father 
in  a  candle  manufactory,  on  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Hanover  streets,  at  the  sign  of  the  Blue  Bell.  He  was 
afterwards  printer's  devil  for  his  brother  James,  and  at 
eighteen  established  the  fourth  newspaper  printed  in  this 
country.  It  was  entitled  "  The  New  England  Courant." 

The  first  newspaper  of  Boston  was  also  the  first  in  the 


54         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

colonies,  and  was  printed  on  a  half  sheet  of  Pot  paper, 
in  small  pica.  It  was  entitled  "The  Boston  News 
Letter.  Published,  by  authority,  from  Monday,  April 
seventeenth,  to  Monday,  April  twenty-fourth,  1704." 
John  Campbell,  a  Scotchman  and  bookseller,  was  pro- 
prietor. 

Now  the  Boston  press  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
world's  journalism,  and  is  commodiously  accommodated ; 
as  the  elegant  buildings  of  the  Transcript,  Globe,  Jour- 
nal, Herald  and  other  papers,  testify.  The  Advertiser  is 
the  oldest  daily  paper  in  the  city. 

It  is  impossible  to'properly  describe  Boston  within  the 
limits  of  so  short  a  chapter,  and  only  a  glance  at  a  few 
other  points  of  interest  will  therefore  be  given. 

The  City  Hall,  on  School  street,  is  on  the  site  of 
the  house  of  Isaac  Johnson,  who  lived  here  in  1630, 
and  who  has  been  styled  the  founder  of  Boston.  The 
corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid  December  twen- 
ty-second, 1672.  It  is  of  Concord  granite,  and  is  in  the 
finest  style  of  modern  architecture.  Here,  under  the 
arching  roof  of  the  French  dome,  the  fire-alarm  telegraph 
centres,  and  the  sentinel  who  stands  guard  at  this  important 
point  never  leaves  his  post,  night  or  day.  The  myste- 
rious signal,  though  touched  in  the  city's  remotest  rim, 
is  instantly  obeyed,  and  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell 
it  the  brave  firemen  are  rushing  to  the  rescue.  A  fine 
bronze  statue  of  Benjamin  Franklin  stands  in  the 
tnclosure  in  front  of  the  building. 

The  Custom  House,  on  State  street,  is  built  of  granite, 
even  to  the  roof.  It  is  constructed  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross,  and  is  surrounded  by  thirty-two  granite 
columns,  a  little  over  five  feet  in  diameter.  The  site  was 
reclaimed  from  the  tide  waters,  and  the  massive  building 


BOSTON.  55 

rests  upon  about  three  thousand  piles.  Over  a  million 
dollars  were  expended  in  its  erection. 

The  Old  Granary  Burying-ground,  once  a  part  of  the 
Common,  received  its  name  from  a  public  granary  which 
formerly  stood  within  its  limits.  Some  of  the  most 
distinguished  dust  in  history  is  consigned  to  its  keeping. 
Paul  Revere,  Peter  Faneuil,  Samuel  Adams,  John 
Hancock,  the  victims  of  the  Boston  Massacre,  the 
parents  of  Franklin,  the  first  Mayor  of  Boston,  and  a 
Jong  list  of  other  names  famed  in  their  day  and  ours,  lie 
buried  within  this  ancient  ground.  Near  by,  between 
the  Common  and  the  Granary  Cemetery,  stands  the 
celebrated  Park  Street  Church,  of  which  W.  H.  H. 
Murray,  the  brilliant  writer  and  preacher,  was,  until 
lately,  the  pastor.  It  used  to  be  known  as  "  brimstone 
corner."  This  winter  we  attended  Park  Street  Church 
on  the  same  day  with  the  brunette  monarch,  Kalakaua 
and  suite. 

One  of  the  most  commodious  and  elegant  stations  in 
New  England,  or  this  country,  is  that  of  the  Boston 
and  Providence  Railroad.  It  is  about  eight  hundred 
feet  in  length,  and  is  built  of  brick,  with  two  shades  of 
sandstone.  The  track  house  is  seven  hundred  feet  long, 
covering  five  tracks,  and  has  a  span  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  feet.  Its  cost  is  somewhere  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  interior 
arrangement  is  quite  novel  in  style.  The  waiting-rooms 
open  out  of  an  immense  central  apartment  with  a  balcony 
reaching  around  the  entire  inner  circumference.  Theatre 
tickets,  flower  and  cigar  stands,  a  billiard  room  and  a 
barber  shop,  are  some  of  the  special  features  of  the 
station.  Refreshment  rooms  and  dressing  rooms,  in  oak 
and  crimson,  are  also  an  integral  part  of  the  building. 


56        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Hundreds  of  interesting  places  in  this  singular  and 
crooked  city  of  Boston  must  go  unnoticed  in  these  pages. 
The  beautiful  Tremont  Temple  and  its  Sunday  temper- 
ance lectures ;  Music  Hall,  with  its  big  organ  of  six 
thousand  pipes,  through  one  of  which  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  is  said  to  have  crawled,  before  its  erection ;  the 
Parker  House,  one  of  the  crack  hotels  of  the  city ;  the 
Revere  House,  where  all  the  distinguished  people  stop, 
with  its  special  suite  of  rooms  upholstered  in  blue  satin, 
where  King  Kalakaua  smoked  his  cigars  in  peace ;  the 
beneficent  Public  Library ;  the  Boston  Athenaeum,  home 
of  art ;  the  Boston  Theatre,  the  new  and  elegant  Globe 
Theatre,  and  the  suburban  limits,  including  Charlestown 
and  famous  Bunker  Hill,  Cambridge  and  Harvard 
University,  Mt.  Auburn,  Dorchester  Heights,  Roxbury 
and  East  Boston,  which  was  formerly  known  as  Nod- 
dle's Island,  and  where  now  the  Cunard  line  of  steamers 
arrive  and  depart — all  these  tempt  my  pen  to  linger 
within  their  charmed  localities.  But  it  is  a  temptation 
to  be  resisted.  When,  after  many  weeks'  sojourn  in  the 
intellectual  "  Hub,"  I  was  at  last  seated  in  the  outward 
bound  train,  ticketed  for  the  west,  a  regret,  born  of 
pleasant  associations  and  a  taste  of  Boston  atmosphere, 
took  possession  of  me.  The  farewells  I  uttered  held 
an  undertone  of  pain.  But  the  train  sped  onward, 
unheeding,  and  the  city  of  the  harbor  seemed  to  dissolve 
and  disappear  in  the  smoke  of  her  thousand  chimneys, 
like  a  dream  of  the  night. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BUFFALO. 

The  Niagara  Frontier. — Unfortunate  Fate  of  the  Eries. — The 
Battle  of  Doom.— Times  of  1812.— Burning  of  Buffalo.— Early 
Names. — Origin  of  Present  Name. — Growth  and  Population. — 
Railway  Lines. — Queen  of  the  Great  Lakes. — Fort  Porter  and 
Fort  Erie. — International  Bridge. — Iron  Manufacture. — Danger 
of  the  Niagara. — Forest  Lawn  Cemetery. — Decoration  Day. — 
The  Spaulding  Monument. — Parks  and  Boulevard. — Delaware 
Avenue. — On  the  Terrace. — Elevator  District. — Church  and 
Schools. — Grosvenor  Library. — Historical  Rooms. — Journalism. 
— Public  Buildings. — City  Hall. — Dog-carts  and  their  Attendants. 

BUFFALO  is  a  kind  of  half-way  house  between 
the  East  and  the  West — if  anything  may  be  called 
west  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  River — and  it  partakes 
of  the  characteristics  of  both  sections.  It  was  once  the 
chief  trading  post  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  its  vicinity 
has  been  the  scene  of  many  a  hotly  contested  battle 
between  dusky  races  now  forever  lost  to  this  part  of  the 
world,  and  almost  forgotten  of  history.  Long  ago,  the 
Eries,  or  the  Cat  Nation,  lived  on  the  southern  shores 
of  the  same  lake  whose  waters  now  lap  the  wharves  of 
Buffalo.  They  left  it  the  heritage  of  their  name,  and 
that  is  all. 

The  race,  in  its  lack  of  calculation,  did  not  greatly 
differ  from  many  isolated  instances  of  the  paler  race  of 
mankind  around  us  now ;  for  it  died  of  a  too  o'erreach- 
ing  ambition.  Jealous  of  the  distant  fame  of  the  Five 
Nations,  the  Eries  set  out  to  surprise  and  conquer  them 
in  deadly  battle,  and  themselves  met  the  fate  they  had 
meant  for  the  Iroquois.  They  were  exterminated ;  and 

57 


58        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

few  returned  to  the  squaws  in  their  lonely  wigwams,  to 
tell  the  tale  of  doom. 

The  noble  race  of  Senecas  succeeded  the  Cat  Nation 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  and  after  them,  from  across 
the  great  seas,  came  the  dominant,  pushing,  civilizing 
Anglo-Saxons. 

When  the  war  of  1812  broke  out,  Buffalo  was  an 
exceedingly  infant  city,  and  did  not  promise  well  at  all. 
Nobody  would  have  then  predicted  her  importance  of 
to-day.  Later,  in  1813,  the  battle  of  Black  Rock 
was  fought,  and  while  a  few  old  soldiers  made  a  deter- 
mined stand  against  the  onset  of  the  solid  British 
phalanx,  most  of  the  raw  recruits  fled  down  Niagara 
street  in  a  regular  Bull  Run  panic,  chased  by  the  pur- 
suing foe.  The  village  was  then  fired  by  the  enemy,  and 
every  building  except  one  was  burned  to  the  ground. 
The  description  of  the  suffering  and  flight  of  women  and 
children,  during  that  harrowing  time,  draws  largely 
on  the  sympathies  of  the  reader,  and  sounds  strangely 
similar  to  the  newspaper  accounts  of  the  burning  of 
Western  and  Pennsylvania  towns,  of  more  recent  occur- 
rence. 

But,  though  Buffalo  was  destroyed  by  fire,  it  shortly 
evinced  all  the  power  of  the  fabled  phoenix,  and  rose 
from  its  ashes  to  a  grander  future  than  its  early  settlers 
ever  dreamed  of  prophesying  for  it.  The  young  city, 
however,  suffered  in  its  first  days  from  a  multiplicity  of 
names,  struggling  under  no  less  than  three.  The  Indians 
named  it  Te-osah-wa,  or  "  Place  of  Basswood ; "  the 
Holland  Land  Company  dragged  the  Dutch  name  of 
New  Amsterdam  across  the  ocean  and  endeavored  to 
drop  it  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie ;  and  finally,  it  took  its 
present  name  of  Buffalo,  from  the  frequent  visits  of  the 


BUFFALO.  59 

American  Bison  to  a  salt  spring  which  welled  up  about 
three  miles  out  of  the  village,  on  Buffalo  creek. 

I  think  Buffalonians  have  reason  to  be  grateful  that 
the  last  name  proved  more  tenacious  than  the  other  two. 
Think  of  the  "Queen  City  "  of  the  most  Eastern  West 
being  overshadowed  by  the  tiled-roof  name  of  New 
Amsterdam  ! 

It  was  not  until  1822,  on  the  completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  that  Buffalo  began  the  rapid  advance  towards 
prosperity  that  now  marks  its  growth,  the  muster-roll 
of  its  population,  at  this  writing,  numbering  the  round 
figures  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  thousand.  It  now 
rejoices  in  business  streets  three  and  four  miles  long — 
full-fledged  two-thirds  of  the  distance,  and  the  remainder 
embryonic.  The  harbor-front,  facing  the  ship  canal  and 
the  Lake,  bristles  with  the  tall  tops  of  huge  grain  ele- 
vators— a  whole  village  of  them.  A  network  of  railroad 
lines,  and  the  commerce  of  the  great  Lakes,  have  com- 
bined to  build  up  and  carry  on  a  vast  business  at  this 
point,  and  to  make  it  a  station  of  much  importance 
between  the  East  and  the  West.  The  rails  of  the  New 
York  Central,  the  Great  Western,  the  Lake  Shore,  and 
the  Buffalo  and  Philadelphia  roads,  besides  many  other 
lines,  .all  centre  here,  carrying  their  tide  of  human 
freight,  mainly  westward,  and  transporting  the  cereals 
of  the  great  grain  regions  in  exchange  for  the  manu- 
factured products  of  less  favored  localities.  When  the 
representative  of  New  York  or  New  England  wishes 
to  go  west,  he  fi^ds  his  most  direct  route  by  rail,  via 
Buffalo;  or,  if  he  desires  a  most  charming  water  trip, 
he  embarks,  also  via  Buffalo,  on  one  of  the  handsome 
propellers  which  ply  the  Lakes  between  this  city  and 
Chicago,  and  steaming  down  the  length  of  Lake  Erie, 


60         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

up  through  the  narrower  St.  Clair  and  the  broad  Huron, 
he  passes  the  wooded  shores  of  Mackinac's  beautiful 
island,  surmounted  by  its  old  fort,  and  entering  Lake 
Michigan,  in  due  time  is  landed  on  the  breezy  Milwaukee 
banks,  or  is  set  down  within  that  maelstrom  of  business, 
named  Chicago.  Indeed,  after  Chicago,  Buffalo  is  the 
ranking  city  of  the  Lakes,  and  is  said  to  cover  more 
territory  than  almost  any  city  in  the  country  outside  the 
great  metropolis — the  distance,  from  limit  to  limit, 
averaging  seven  and  eight  miles.  Its  suburban  drives 
and  places  of  summer  resort,  owing  to  the  superior 
water  localities  of  this  region,  are  much  out  of  the  usual 
line.  Niagara  River,  famous  the  world  over,  allures 
the  daring  boatman  from  Fort  Porter  onward,  and  the 
wonderful  Falls  themselves  are  only  eighteen  miles 
beyond  that.  Fort  Porter,  about  two  miles  out  from 
the  heart  of  the  city,  is  located  just  at  the  point  where 
Niagara  River  leaves  the  lake  in  its  mad  race  to  the 
Falls.  Here  the  banks  are  high  and  command  a  wide 
water  prospect.  Away  to  the  westward  the  blue  lake 
and  the  blue  sky  seem  to  meet  and  blend  together  as 
one;  and  in  the  opposite  direction  the  rushing  river 
spreads  out  like  another  lake,  towards  Squaw  Island  and 
Black  Rock.  One  or  more  companies  of  United  States 
Regulars  are  stationed  here,  and  the  barracks  and 
officers'  quarters  surround  a  square  inclosure,  which  is 
used  as  a  parade  ground.  Graveled  walks  are  laid  out 
around  it,  and  a  grassy  foot-path  leads  from  the  soldiers' 
quarters  to  the  site  of  the  old  Fork  on  the  brow  of  a 
gentle  elevation  just  beyond.  The  Fort  was  built  for 
frontier  defence,  in  1812,  and  the  interior,  now  grass- 
grown  and  unused,  is  so  deep  that  the  roof  of  the  stone 
structure,  once  appropriated  as  a  magazine,  is  nearly  on 


BUFFALO.  61 

a  level  with  the  high  ground  at  your  feet  During  our 
last  war  the  building  was  occupied  as  a  place  of  confine- 
ment for  Rebel  prisoners.  It  is  now  in  a  state  of 
advanced  collapse,  and  the  battered  walls  and  open  win- 
dows expose  to  view  the  ruin  within.  A  small,  square 
outhouse,  near  one  of  the  embrasures  higher  up,  which 
was  used  for  firing  hot  shot,  is  still  intact.  Field  pieces, 
pointing  grimly  towards  the  Lake,  and  little  heaps  of 
cannon  balls  lying  near,  bring  freshly  to  mind  the 
nation's  last  war  days,  when  "the  winding  rivers  ran 
red  "  with  the  mingled  blood  of  comrade  and  foe.  The 
sunset  gun  boomed  over  the  waters  while  we  lingered  at 
the  old  Fort,  and  the  fading  glow  of  day  bridged  the 
river  with  arches  of  crimson  and  gold. 

Diagonally  opposite  from,  this  point,  one  looks  across 
into  the  Queen's  dominions,  where  lies  the  little  village 
of  Fort  Erie,  historic  as  the  place  from  which  the 
British  crossed  to  our  shores  on  the  night  preceding  the 
burning  of  Buffalo. 

At  Black  Rock,  about  two  miles  below  Fort  Porter, 
the  great  International  Railroad  Bridge,  a  mile  in 
length,  spans  the  mighty  river,  having  superseded  the 
old-time  ferry.  This  bridge  is  the  connecting  link 
on  the  Grand  Trunk  Road,  between  Canada  and  the 
States. 

Near  its  terminus,  on  the  American  side,  are  located 
the  immense  malleable  iron  works  of  Pratt  &  Letch- 
worth,  said  to  be  the  largest  manufactory  of  the  kind  in 
the  world.  Their  goods  certainly  find  a  world-wide 
market,  taking  in  New  England  and  the  Pacific  coast, 
Mexico,  England  and  Australia.  A  pretty  picture  of 
the  country  seat  of  Mr.  Letchworth,  at  Portage,  New 
York,  may  be  seen  at  the  Historical  Rooms.  It  is  named 


62        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Glen  Iris,  and  is  surrounded  by  handsome  grounds, 
groves  and  fountains. 

Boating  on  the  Niagara  is  much  in  vogue  here, 
notwithstanding  the  rapid  current  and  the  dreadful 
certainty  of  the  Falls  in  case  of  accident.  The  keeper 
of  a  boat  house  at  Black  Rock,  opposite  Squaw  Island, 
told  me  that  the  proportion  of  accidents  on  the  river 
was  frightfully  large — far  greater  than  ever  got  into  the 
public  prints. 

Forest  Lawn  Cemetery — Buffalo's  city  of  the  dead — 
is  one  of  the  loveliest  burial  places  between  Brooklyn 
and  Chicago.  It  is  picturesque  with  hill  and  dale  and 
grove,  not  to  mention  a  large  artificial  lake  lapped  in 
one  of  its  grassy  hollows,  and  a  winding,  wide  and 
rocky-bedded  creek  running  through  it.  The  name  of 
the  creek  is  spelled  S-c-a-j-a-q-u-a-d-a  and  pronounced 
Kon-joc'-e-ta.  The  Pratt  monument,  in  a  remote  por- 
tion of  the  grounds,  is  perhaps  the  handsomest  in  the 
cemetery.  It  looks  like  a  gothic  gateway  with  fluted 
pillars  of  Italian  marbles.  A  sculptured  image  of  a 
child  of  one  of  the  Fargos — of  the  famous  Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co. — rests  under  a  glass  case  on  the  lap  of 
earth  which  marks  her  grave.  The  head  is  peculiarly 
noble,  reminding  one  of  that  of  the  Belvidere  Apollo. 
It  is  said  to  be  a  truthful  likeness.  Decoration  Day  at 
Forest  Lawn  was  a  picture  long  to  be  remembered.  On  a 
little  knoll  under  the  trees  at  the  entrance  to  the  grounds 
the  military  and  civic  processions  assembled  to  listen  to 
the  eloquent  words  of  Rev.  Mr.  Barrett,  of  Rochester. 
When  the  brief  address  was  concluded,  and  the  band 
music  and  singing  were  over,  we  followed  the  commit- 
tees of  decoration  to  the  scattered  graves  of  the  patriot 
dead,  and  witnessed  the  strewing  of  flowers  upon  their 


SOMHKKS'    MONUMENT    AT    liUKPAl.O.    Nli\V    YOKK. 


BUFFALO.  63 

sacred  dust.  A  hushed  circle  above  the  mound  of  earth, 
a  few  fitly-spoken  words  from  one  of  their  number  who 
knew  the  soldier-hero,  and  the  floral  tributes  were  ten- 
derly placed  above  the  sleeper's  head.  Thus,  oh  heroes, 
shall  your  memory  be  kept  forever  green  !  The  flowers 
were  wrought  into  every  symbolic  shape  by  which  the 
language  of  affection  could  be  translated.  Crowns,  and 
crosses,  and  stars,  and  anchors  of  hope,  spoke  their  love 
and  solace.  The  graves  of  the  Confederate  dead  were 
also  decorated,  and  side  by  side,  under  a  common  mantle 
of  flowers,  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  received  alike  the 
benediction  of  the  hour. 

"  Then  beautiful  flowers  strew, 
This  sweet  memorial  day, 
With  tears  and  love  for  the  Blue, 
And  pity  for  the  fallen  Gray." 

At  Forest  Lawn,  also,  on  the  historic  seventeenth  of 
June — the  Bunker  Hill  Centennial — a  monument  was 
dedicated  to  the  memory  of  nine  Spauldings  who  fought 
at  that  battle,  one  hundred  years  before.  The  granite 
cenotaph  was  erected  by  E.  G.  Spaulding,  of  Buffalo, 
descended  from  the  same  blood  with  the  heroic  nine. 
The  names  of  the  list  inscribed  on  the  Western  front  of 
the  monument  were  headed  by  that  of  his  grandfather, 
Le'vi  Spaulding,  who  was  captain  of  the  ninth  company, 
third  regiment,  under  Colonel  Reed,  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire troops,  engaged  on  that  day. 

"  For  bright  and  green  the  memory  still 
Of  those  who  stood  on  Bunker  Hill, 
And  nobly  met  the  battle  shock, 
Firm  as  their  native  granite  rock.'' 

Speeches  reviving  Revolutionary  memories,  and  fresh 
descriptions  of  the  Bunker  Hill  contest,  were  in  order. 


64        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

There  was  a  semi-military  procession,  and  the  interest 
felt  in  the  occasion  was  general.  A  grand  reception  at 
Mr.  Spaulding's  residence  in  the  evening,  concluded  the 
patriotic  anniversary. 

The  large  park  adjoining  Forest  Lawn  is  plentiful  in 
attractions,  including  the  delights  of  boating  on  the 
Konjoceta  and  loitering  in  the  shadowy  coolncas  of  the 
primeval  woods.  In  addition  to  these,  Buffalo  is  com- 
pleting a  grand  boulevard  system  which  encircles  half 
the  City,  beginning  at  what  is  called  the  Front,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Fort  Porter,  and  making  the  circuit  of 
the  outskirts  through  Bidwell  and  Lincoln  and  Hum- 
boldt  parkways  to  the  intersection  of  Genesee  street 
with  the  Parade,  on  the  opposite  arc  of  the  circle.  One 
is  sure  to  find  cool  breezes  along  this  drive,  though  the 
day  be  the  hottest  of  the  season.  Indeed,  the  summer 
heats  arc,  at  all  times,  shorn  of  their  fervor  in  this 
Queen  City  of  the  Lakes,  and  its  climatic  advantages 
are,  therefore,  superior. 

Delaware  Avenue  is  the  leading  street  of  Buffalo  for 
private  residences,  and  here  much  of  the  aristocracy  do 
congregate.  It  is  about  three  miles  long,  and  double 
rows  of  shade  trees  line  either  side.  Fast  driving  on 
this  avenue  is  licensed  by  city  authority,  and  racing 
down  its  gentle  incline  is  much  in  vogue.  In  winter, 
when  sleighing  is  good,  this  is  carried  to  greater  excess, 
and  the  snowy  road  is  black  with  flying  vehicles.  Main 
street,  the  principal  business  thoroughfare  of  the  city,  at 
least  for  retail  trade,  is  wide,  well  paved  and  straight, 
and  is  built  up  with  substantial  business  blocks.  Its 
sister  thoroughfare  on  the  east,  Washington  street, 
towards  the  lower  end  as  it  approaches  the  lake,  degen- 
erates into  manufacturing,  and  the  buzz  of  machinery  and 


BUFFALO.  65 

incessant  din  of  hammers  break  in  on  the  maiden 
meditations  of  the  passive  sight-seer. 

As  one  approaches  the  Terrace,  which  is  an  elbow  of 
blocks  at  one  end  and  a  diagonal  at  the  other,  one  ig 
confronted  by  a  confusion  of  cross  streets,  which  look  as 
if  they  had  been  gotten  up  expressly  to  demoralize  one's 
points  of  compass.  They  all  look  out  on  Buffalo  harbor 
and  the  sea-wall  beyond.  Ohio  street,  following  the 
bend  of  the  harbor,  is  the  great  elevator  district  of  the 
greatest  grain  mart  in  the  world.  Here,  when  business 
is  at  high  tide,  between  two  and  three  million  bushels  of 
grain  per  day  are  transferred  by  these  giant  monsters  with 
high  heads.  The  business  places  of  this  department  of 
Buffalo  enterprise  are  located  principally  on  Central 
Wharf,  in  this  vicinity,  which  fronts  the  harbor  and 
which  is  crowded  with  offices  two  tiers  deep. 

Along  the  wharf  the  very  air  is  charged  with  bustle 
and  activity.  Vessels  of  all  descriptions  are  arriving  and 
departing  at  all  hours,  and  the  commerce  of  the  great 
lakes  pours  its  flood  tide  into  Buffalo  through  this  gate- 
way. 

As  for  churches  and  schools,  the  city  overflows  with 
them.  It  is  sprinkled  in  all  directions  with  handsome 
religious  edifices,  like  interrogation  points,  in  stone  and 
brick,  asking  the  questions  of  a  higher  life.  And  there 
are  thirty-six  public  schools,  besides  the  State  Normal, 
the  Central,  and  the  Buffalo  Female  Academy.  This 
last  is  under  the  able  guidance  of  Dr.  Chester.  But 
even  these  do  not  complete  the  list,  as  I  understand  there 
are  numerous  other  private  institutions  of  learning. 

In  one  of  the  triangular  pieces  of  ground  where  the 
three  streets  of  Niagara,  Erie  and  Church  make  their 
entrance  into  Main  street,  stands  the  picturesque  struc- 


66         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ture  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Cathedral.  It  is  built  of 
brown  stone,  and  the  creeping  ivy  nearly  covers  one  end 
of  it,  from  the  crosses  and  minarets  at  the  pinnacle  to 
the  trailing  vines  on  the  ground.  The  gray,  gothic 
edifice  of  St.  Joseph's  Romish  Cathedral,  fronting  on 
Franklin  street,  is  also  very  large,  and  the  interior  is 
rich  in  architectural  design. 

As  for  the  immeasurable  realm  of  books,  Buffalo  fur- 
nishes her  children  access  to  this,  through  her  libraries. 
Chiefest  among  them  is  the  Grosveuor,  which  has 
a  bit  of  history  all  by  itself.  It  was  founded  by  a 
retired  merchant  of  New  York,  who  had  lived  in  Buffalo 
during  the  earliest  infancy  of  the  city,  and  whose  pro- 
perty had  been  destroyed  when  the  then  frontier  village 
was  fired  by  the  British  and  Indians,  in  retaliation  for 
the  burning  of  Newark.  This  generous  gentleman  also 
left  thirty  thousand  dollars  to  found  a  reference  library 
for  the  High  School  of  New  York  City.  His  will  pro- 
vided a  legacy  of  ten  thousand  for  Buffalo,  to  be  applied 
towards  a  fire-proof  building  for  a  library,  and  the  sum 
of  thirty  thousand,  the  interest  of  which  was  to  be  used 
for  the  purchase  of  books.  The  building  fund  having 
been  on  interest  ever  since,  now  amounts  to  twenty-eight 
thousand,  and  in  addition  the  city  has  donated  what  is 
known  as  the  Mohawk  street  property,  used  at  present  for 
police  purposes,  which  will  sell  for  an  amount  sufficiently 
large,  together  with  the  deposit  already  on  hand,  to  erect 
a  handsome  building.  The  library  is  now  located  over 
the  Buffalo  Savings  Bank,  facing  a  pleasant  little  park 
between  Washington  and  Main  streets. 

In  1870  the  interest  had  more  than  doubled  the 
donation,  and  the  Trustees  then  commenced  the  work  of 
making  the  library  a  living  institution.  After  a  great 


BUFFALO.  67 

deal  of  trouble,  they  at  last  secured  the  services  of  Alex- 
ander J.  Sheldon,  who  was  willing,  without  any  certain 
compensation,  to  undertake  the  task  of  organizing  and 
superintending  the  library.  Mr.  Sheldon,  who  is  an 
expert  in  books,  is  native  to  the  city,  and  from  boyhood 
has  been  connected  with  this  line  of  business.  The  first 
year  of  his  hard  labor  at  the  Grosvenor  was  rewarded  by 
the  large  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  !  It  was  well  for 
the  institution,  however,  that  Mr.  Sheldon  was  not  depen- 
dent on  his  salary  for  support.  He  entered  into  the  work 
with  an  enthusiasm  which  surmounted  all  difficulties, 
and  which  has  brought  the  library  to  its  present  state  of 
progress,  making  it  a  credit  to  the  city  of  Buffalo. 

The  large  reading  room  is  neatly  fitted  up  with  black 
walnut  cases,  nine  feet  in  length,  and  eight  feet  high, 
opening  on  both  sides,  and  capable  of  holding  eight  or 
nine  hundred  average  volumes.  There  are  about  thirty 
of  these  cases  in  the  room,  with  reading  tables  and  easy 
chairs  interspersed  between  them.  The  style  of  alcove 
and  arrangement,  which  was  also  Mr.  Sheldon's  sugges- 
tion, produces  a  very  handsome  effect.  The  cases  stand 
on  black  walnut  platforms  six  inches  in  height,  and  are 
surmounted  by  a  pretty  cornice.  The  shelves  are  inter- 
changeable, and  are  of  such  moderate  height  that  the 
necessity  for  step-ladders  is  entirely  avoided.  There  are 
also  dummy  volumes,  made  to  resemble  books  and  pfo- 
perly  titled,  which,  if  their  mission  is  to  deceive  the 
uninitiated,  certainly  accomplish  that  task.  The  number 
of  volumes  has  now  accumulated  to  about  eighteen 
thousand,  and  includes  the  choicest  works  in  art,  science, 
literature  and  the  professions.  The  fiction  department 
comprehends  all  the  recognized  standard  works,  but  the 
mass  of  worthless  novels,  which  pass  current  in  some  of 


68        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

our  circulating  libraries,  is  unhesitatingly  excluded. 
The  bindings  are  nearly  all  morocco,  with  gilt  or 
marbled  tops,  and  the  back  of  each  book,  as  it  is  added 
to  the  library,  is  given  a  coat  of  white  shellac  varnish, 
which  prevents  it,  in  a  great  degree,  from  fading,  and 
renders  it  easy  of  renovation. 

The  small  ante-room  which  is  used  by  the  librarian 
and  committeemen  contains  several  hundred  volumes  on 
bibliography,  which  is  a  very  important  feature  of  such 
an  institution.  The  rooms  in  summer  are  breezy,  from 
the  lake  winds,  and  in  winter  are  heated  by  steam  radi- 
ators. A  heavy  cocoa  matting  deadens  all  sound  on  the 
floors,  and  absolute  quiet  is  thus  secured.  Thanks  to 
the  efforts  of  Mr.  Sheldon,  the  Grosvenor  is  undoubtedly 
the  best  library  for  a  student  west  of  the  Hudson. 

The  Historical  Rooms  deserve  notice  as  one  of  the 
salient  points  of  Buffalo,  and  though  the  Society  is 
young  and  not  by  any  means  wealthy,  yet  it  is  fairly 
started  on  its  road  to  distinction.  It  was  founded  in 
1862,  and  subsists  principally  by  donations,  as  it  is  yet 
too  poor  to  make  purchases  of  books  or  relics.  The 
Rooms  are  located  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Court 
streets,  nearly  opposite  the  ancient  site  of  the  old  Eagle 
Tavern.  A  picture  of  this  hotel  as  it  looked  fifty  years 
ago  may  be  seen  among  their  collection.  A  huge  gilt 
eagle  surmounted  the  main  entrance,  and  an  enclosed 
porch,  or  what  looks  like  it,  at  one  end  of  the  building, 
bore  the  inscription  "  Coach  Office"  in  large  letters  over 
the  doorway.  Here  also  is  the  noble  looking  portrait  of 
Red  Jacket,  the  great  Seneca  Chief,  together  with  the 
grand-daughter  of  Red  Jacket's  second  wife — Nancy 
Stevenson — taken  at  sixteen,  This  bright-eyed,  brown 
maiden  married  an  Indian  named  Hiram  Dennis,  and 


BUFFALO.  69 

was  still  living  in  1872.  Belts  of  wampum,  war 
hatchets  and  pipes  of  peace,  besides  numerous  pictures, 
in  oil,  of  celebrated  red  warriors,  are  among  the  Indian 
mementoes  connected  with  Buffalo's  early  history.  The 
war  of  1812  also  contributes  its  scattered  waifs  to  keep 
alive  the  memory  of  that  time.  The  sword  of  Major- 
General  Brown,  worn  at  the  battle  of  Sackett's  Harbor, 
and  a  piece  of  timber  from  Perry's  ship,  on  which  is 
traced  the  legend  "We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they 
are  ours,"  are  among  the  heirlooms  of  history.  Here, 
too,  is  a  Mexican  lance  from  the  field  of  Monterey,  and 
the  clarionette  used  in  Buffalo's  first  band  of  music, 
whose  strains  helped  swell  the  chorus  during  the  tri- 
umphal march  of  Lafayette  through  her  streets  in  1824, 
A  representation  of  the  first  boat  on  the  Erie  Canal, 
named  "Chief  Engineer  of  Rome,"  looks  quaint  enough. 
The  walls  of  the  large  apartment  devoted  to  historical 
collections  are  covered  with  pictures  of  Buffalo's  promi- 
nent men,  and  at  one  end  of  the  room  hangs  a  handsome 
portrait  of  Millard  Fillmore,  set  in  heavy  gilt.  Their 
list  of  books  and  directories  is  also  quite  large.  The 
story  of  a  city's  growth  is  always  one  of  deep  interest, 
and  the  generations  of  future  years  will,  no  doubt,  be 
grateful  for  these  landmarks  of  their  early  history. 

Journalism  in  Buffalo  rides  on  the  top  wave,  and  her 
leading  papers  have  achieved  an  enviable  fame.  Eight 
dailies  swell  the  list,  four  of  which  are  German,  besides 
ten  weeklies  and  seven  monthly  papers.  The  history 
of  the  Commercial  Advertiser  dates  back  to  October, 
1811.  It  was  issued  at  that  time,  under  the  name  of  the 
Buffalo  Gazette,  by  the  Salisbury  brothers,  from  Canan- 
daigua.  With  the  exception  of  a  paper  at  Batavia, 
begun  in  1807,  the  Gazette  was  the  only  paper  pub- 


70        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

lished  at  that  time  in  Western  New  York.  It  after- 
wards changed  its  name  to  the  Buffalo  Patriot,  and 
since  1836  it  has  been  issued  as  the  Daily  Commercial 
Advertiser.  The  Courier  and  Commercial  are  the  rank- 
ing papers  of  the  city,  in  point  of  influence. 

Buffalo  doesn't  seem  to  be  ambitious  of  display  in  her 
public  buildings,  judging  from  the  quality  of  those 
already  on  hand.  The  new  City  Hall,  however,  is  a  noble 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  It  is  built  of  Maine 
granite,  in  the  form  of  a  double  Roman  cross,  and  the 
tower,  which  is  two  hundred  and  forty-five  feet  high,  is 
surmounted  by  four  pieces  of  statuary.  Its  estimated 
cost  is  over  two  millions  of  dollars. 

St.  James'  Hall  and  the  Academy  of  Music  are  the 
chief  places  of  amusement  in  the  city,  the  latter  place 
being  conducted  by  the  Meech  brothers,  two  young 
gentlemen  of  acknowledged  ability.  Many  noted  stars 
of  the  stage  whose  names  have  blazed  forth  in  histrionic 
glory  have  here  made  their  first  conquests,  before 
applauding  audiences.  The  stock  company  is  unusually 
good,  Ben  Rogers,  stage  manager  and  first  comedian, 
being  a  host  in  himself. 

The  fire  department  of  the  city  is  said  to  be  exceed- 
ingly efficient,  and  the  police  system  has  gained  a 
reputation  for  thorough  work  which  ought  to  be  the 
terror  of  the  criminal  class.  It  embraces  a  body  of 
mounted  police,  a  corps  of  detectives  and  of  patrolmen, 
besides  the  regular  force  stationed  at  the  harbor. 

Among  the  minor  peculiarities  of  Buffalo  may  be 
mentioned  the  superabundance  of  dog  carts  to  be  seen 
in  her  streets;  not  the  conventional  kind  that  goes 
rolling  down  Fifth  Avenue,  among  the  bewildering 
array  of  splendid  equipages — coupes,  landaus,  landau- 


BUFFALO.  71 

lets,  drags  and  what  not — that  daily  make  their  way  to 
Central  Park ;  not  any  of  these ;  but  the  original  dog 
cart,  with  the  dog  attached.  He  is  to  be  seen  in  all  the 
varieties  of  the  species,  from  a  muddy  yellow  to  the 
fierce-looking  mastiff.  He  is  usually  harnessed  in  com- 
pany with  a  collapsed  old  woman  or  a  cadaverous  look- 
ing little  boy,  and  he  carries  all  kinds  of  mixed  freight, 
from  an  ash  barrel  to  a  load  of  sticks.  The  under- 
current of  Buffalo  society  does  not  seem  to  look  upon 
the  dog  in  a  purely  ornamental  light. 

This  chapter  on  a  place  so  fertile  in  suggestion  might 
be  prolonged  indefinitely ;  but  we  are  gazing  westward, 
along  a  line  of  cities  whose  terminus  does  not  end  until 
it  reaches  the  Golden  Grate  and  the  most  famous  centre 
of  population  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Our  steps  are  bent 
toward  that  far-off  goal,  and  we  must  say  good-bye  to 
the  ancient  land  of  the  Eries  and  the-  former  haunts  of 
the  buffalo. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BROOKLYN. 

Brooklyn  a  Suburb  of  New  York.  —  A  City  of  Homes.  —  Public 
Buildings.  —  Churches.  —  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  —  Thomas  De 
Witt  Talmage.  —  Theodore  L.  Cuyler,  D.D.  —  Justin  D.  Fulton, 
D.D.  —  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.  —  Navy  Yard.  —  Atlantic  Dock.  — 
Washington  Park.  —  Prospect  Park.  —  Greenwood  Cemetery.  — 
Evergreen  and  Cyprus  Hills  Cemeteries.  —  Coney  Island.  —  Rock- 
away.  —  Staten  Island.  —  Glen  Island.  —  Future  of  Brooklyn. 


nVTEW  YORK  holds  such  supremacy  over  the  other 
_]_  i  cities  of  the  United  States  that  she  almost  over- 
shadows Brooklyn,  which  lies  so  near  her  as  to  be  sepa- 
rated only  by  the  narrow  channel  of  the  East  River. 
Yet  Brooklyn  in  any  other  locality  would  be  a  city  of 
the  first  importance,  ranking,  as  she  does,  the  third  in  the 
Union  as  to  size  and  population,  and  numbering  not 
less  than  six  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Practically 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  are  but  one  city,  with  identi- 
cal commercial  interests,  and  a  great  deal  else  in  com- 
mon. Many  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of 
the  former  city  find  their  homes  in  the  latter  ;  and  by 
means  of  the  numerous  ferries  and  the  great  Suspension 
Bridge  there  is  a  constant  interchange  of  people  between 
them.  The  time  may  come  when  they  will  be  united 
under  one  municipal  government;  though,  no  doubt, 
many  of  the  older  residents  of  Brooklyn,  who  have 
helped  to  build  her  up  to  her  present  extent  and  pros- 
perity, would  object  to  losing  her  name  and  identity. 
But  should  such  a  union  ever  take  place,  there  will  be 
at  once  created,  next  to  London,  the  largest  city  of  the 

72 


BROOKLYN.  73 

world,  with  a  population  of  not  less  than  two  millions 
of  people. 

Brooklyn  is  situated  on  the  west  end  of  Long  Island, 
and  overlooks  both  the  East  River  and  the  Bay.  It 
extends  nearly  eight  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  is 
about  four  miles  from  east  to  west.  Its  business  is  not 
so  extended  or  so  important  as  that  of  New  York,  nor, 
as  a  rule,  are  its  business  edifices  so  imposing,  though 
some  of  them  present  a  very  fine  appearance.  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  great  suburb  of  the  metropolitan  city,  composed 
more  largely  of  dwellings  than  of  commercial  houses.  Its 
business  men,  each  morning,  make  an  exodus  across  the 
East  River  to  Wall  street,  or  Broadway,  or  other  streets 
of  New  York,  and  then  return  at  night.  It  is,  in  fact, 
a  great  city  of  homes,  all  of  them  comfortable  and  many 
of  them  elegant.  There  is  no  squalor,  such  as  is  found 
in  Mott  or  Baxter  streets  and  the  Five  Points  and 
their  neighborhood,  in  its  sister  city.  Handsome  man- 
sions, tasteful  cottages  and  plain  but  neat  rows  of  dwell- 
ings are  found  everywhere,  and  the  streets  are  beautifully 
shaded  by  avenues  of  trees. 

The  public  buildings  of  Brooklyn  worthy  of  notice 
are  few,  compared  to  those  of  New  York.  Fulton 
street  is  its  principal  thoroughfare,  and  contains  occa- 
sional handsome  edifices.  The  City  Hall,  on  an  open 
square  at  the  junction  of  Fulton  court  and  Joraleman 
street,  is  a  fine,  white  marble  building,  in  Ionic  style, 
with  six  columns  supporting  the  roof  of  the  portico. 
It  is  surmounted  by  a  tower  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
feet  in  height.  Just  back  of  this,  to  the  southeast,  and 
facing  toward  Fulton  street,  is  the  County  Court  House, 
with  a  white  marble  front,  a  Corinthian  portico,  and  an 
iron  dome  one  hundred  and  four  feet  high.  Beside  the 


74        PECULIARITIES-  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Court  House,  to  the  westward,  stands  the  Municipal 
Building,  also  of  marble,  four  stories  in  height,  with  a 
mansard  roof,  and  a  tower  at  each  corner.  The  Post 
Office  is  in  Washington  street,  north  of  the  City  Hall. 
The  Long  Island  Historical  Society  has  a  fine  edifice 
at  the  corner  of  Clinton  and  Pierrepont  streets,  and 
possesses  a  large  library  and  collection  of  curiosities. 
The  Academy  of  Design,  on  Montague  street,  has  a 
handsome  exterior ;  opposite  is  the  Mercantile  Library, 
a  striking  Gothic  structure,  containing  two  reading 
rooms  and  a  library  of  forty -eight  thousand  volumes. 
The  building  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
is  on  Fulton  street,  at  the  corner  of  Gallatin  Place,  and 
contains  a  library  and  free  reading  room.  The  Peniten- 
tiary is  an  immense  stone  structure  on  Nostrand  avenue, 
near  the  city  limits.  The  County  Jail,  in  Raymond 
street,  is  constructed  of  red  sandstone,  in  castellated 
Gothic  style.  The  Long  Island  College  Hospital  is  an 
imposing  building,  surrounded  by  extensive  grounds, 
on  Henry  street  near  Pacific. 

Brooklyn  is,  preeminently,  the  City  of  Churches,  of 
which  she  is  said  to  contain  not  less  than  one  hundred. 
She  has  secured  the  services  of  the  most  eminent  clergy- 
men in  the  country,  and  thousands  of  people  each 
year  make  a  pilgrimage  thither,  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  listening  to  some  one  or  other  of  them  whom  they 
have  long  admired  and  appreciated  at  a  distance.  Most 
prominent  among  all  these  clergymen  is  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  who  has  been  the  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church 
ever  since  its  organization  in  1847.  Mr.  Beecher  came 
of  a  noted  family,  his  father,  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher, 
being  one  of  the  theological  lights  of  his  day  and  gener- 
ation, while  his  brothers  and  sisters  have  each  distin- 


BROOKLYN.  75 

guished  themselves  in  some  way.  The  author  of  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  "  was  his  sister,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe,  while  all  of  his  brothers  are,  like  himself,  in  the 
ministry. 

Mr.  Beecher's  popularity  has  been  unparalleled. 
Besides  the  hundreds  who  listen  to  him  every  Sunday, 
each  sermon  is  reported  in  full  and  read  by  thousands 
of  people  throughout  the  country.  He  has  been  a 
leader  of  liberal  thought  in  the  Protestant  churches; 
and  it  is  largely  due  to  his  bold  and  advanced  utter- 
ances that  the  church  in  which  he  holds  communion 
has  taken  a  long  step  ahead  of  the  position  which  it 
occupied  early  in  the  present  century. 

Plymouth  Church  is  a  plain  edifice,  in  Orange  street, 
near  Hicks.  It  has  a  large  seating  capacity,  yet  every 
Sunday  it  is  filled.  A  goodly  proportion  of  the  audience 
is  composed  of  strangers,  who  are  not  permitted  to  take 
seats  until  the  pewholders  are  provided  for.  These 
visitors  stand  in  long  rows  at  each  of  the  doors,  the  rows 
sometimes  extending  out  upon  the  sidewalk,  waiting 
their  turns  to  be  seated.  Ten  minutes  before  the  hour 
of  service  they  are  conducted  to  seats,  and  the  pew- 
holders  who  come  after  that  time .  must  take  their 
chances  with  the  rest.  On  pleasant  Sundays  every  seat 
is  occupied,  and  the  aisles  and  vestibules  are  crowded. 

Mr.  Beecher  occupies  no  pulpit,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word.  In  front  of  the  organ  and  choir  is  a  platform, 
upon  which  are  three  chairs  and  three  small  tables,  or 
stands.  On  one  of  the  latter  is  a  Bible,  and  on  the  others 
a  profusion  of  flowers.  One  realizes  in  this  church  the 
grandeur  of  congregational  singing,  which  is  led  here  by 
a  choir  of  one  hundred  voices,  and  accompanied  by  a 
magnificent  organ.  When  the  entire  congregation  join 


76         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

in  some  familiar  hymn,  the  singing  is  exceedingly 
impressive.  Mr.  Beecher,  albeit  his  reputation  is  that 
of  a  sensational  preacher,  makes  little  attempt  at  sensa- 
tionalism in  his  manner  of  delivery.  He  reads  well  and 
speaks  well,  with  a  clear,  distinct  enunciation,  which  is 
heard  in  every  part  of  his  church.  He  talks  directly  to 
his  point,  using  plain  but  forcible  language,  his  sermons 
sparkling  with  original  thought  and  brilliant  language, 
all  based  upon  a  foundation  of  plain,  practical  common 
sense.  He  has  great  dramatic  power,  yet  manifests  it 
in  so  unstudied  a  manner  that  it  is  never  offensive.  He 
imitates  the  voice  and  manner  of  the  man  of  whom  he 
is  speaking;  the  maudlin  condition  of  the  drunkard,  the 
whine  of  the  beggar,  the  sanctimoniousness  of  the  hypo- 
crite ;  and  keeps  his  audience  interested  and  on  the  alert. 
The  Friday  evening  lectures  are  also  features  of  this 
church,  and  are  conducted  without  formality,  yet  in  a 
decorous  manner. 

The  Brooklyn  preacher  who  is  a  rival  of  Beecher,  in 
the  popular  estimation,  is  Thomas  De  Witt  Talmage, 
whose  church  is  in  Schermerhorn  street,  and  known  as  the 
Tabernacle.  It  is  built  in  Gothic  style,  semi-circular  in 
form,  like  an  opera  house,  and  is  capable  of  seating  5,000 
persons.  It  is  the  largest  Protestant  place  of  worship  in 
the  United  States,  yet  every  Sunday  it  is  filled  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

Talmage  was  born  at  Bound  Brook,  New  Jersey,  in 
1832.  After  graduating  at  the  Theological  Seminary, 
at  New  Brunswick,  he  preached  in  Belleville,  New 
Jersey;  Syracuse,  New  York;  and  Philadelphia,  until 
1869,  when  he  came  to  Brooklyn  to  be  pastor  of  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church.  Within  a  year  he  had 
become  the  acknowledged  rival  of  Beecher.  His  church 


BROOKLYN.  77 

was  crowded,  and  in  1870  a  large  amphitheatre,  called 
the  Brooklyn  Tabernacle,  capable  of  seating  four  thou- 
sand persons,  was  built.  This  building  was  destroyed 
by  fire  in  1872,  and  while  it  was  being  rebuilt  in  its 
present  size  and  form,Talmage  preached  in  the  Academy 
of  Music,  to  immense  crowds.  The  great  organ  used  in 
the  Boston  Coliseum,  during  the  Musical  Peace  Jubilee, 
accompanies  the  singing  at  the  Tabernacle,  which  is 
principally  congregational,  though  a  choir  of  four  male 
singers  give  one  or  more  voluntaries.  The  singing  was 
led  by  Arbuckle,  the  celebrated  cornetist,  but  he  died  in 
May,  1883,  and  was  buried  on  the  day  of  the  opening 
of  the  Suspension  Bridge. 

In  1879,  Talmage  visited  Great  Britain,  and  made 
a  most  successful  lecture  tour,  receiving  from  five  to  six 
hundred  dollars  for  each  lecture,  and  netting  about  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  the  tour.  In  this  country  he  has 
not  been  so  popular  as  a  lecturer  as  Beecher.  He  is  a 
tall,  angular  man,  with  dark  hair,  red  whiskers,  light 
complexion,  large  mouth  and  blue  eyes.  His  pulpit  is 
merely  a  platform,  about  thirty  feet  in  length,  built  in 
front  of  the  organ,  between  the  pipes  and  the  performer ; 
and  back  and  forth  on  this  he  paces  while  delivering 
his  sermon,  frequently  making  forcible  gestures,  which 
have  caused  him  to  be  caricatured  as  a  contortionist  or 
gymnast.  He  is  fluent  in  his  style,  with  much  original- 
ity of  expression,  yet  with  a  certain  drawl  in  the  middle 
of  his  sentences,  and  snarl  at  their  end,  which  renders 
his  elocution  not  entirely  pleasing.  He  carries  his 
audience  with  him  through  the  heights  and  depths  of 
his  oratory,  now  provoking  to  smiles,  again  affecting  to 
tears. 

Theodore   L.  Cuyler,  D.D.,   has  been  pastor  of  the 


78         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Lafayette  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  since  1860.  He 
was  born  at  Aurora,  New  York,  on  January  tenth,  1822, 
and  preached  in  Market  street  church,  in  New  York  City, 
from  1853  to  1860.  The  church  edifice  where  he  now 
ministers  is  one  of  the  most  spacious  and  complete,  in 
all  its  arrangements,  in  either  New  York  or  Brooklyn, 
having  seats  for  two  thousand  people,  while  the  Sabbath- 
school  hall  will  accommodate  one  thousand. 

Dr.  Cuyler,  during  the  thirty-seven  years  of  his  min- 
istry, has  delivered  five  thousand  three  hundred  and 
forty  discourses,  and  a  multitude  of  platform  addresses. 
He  has  received  four  thousand  and  forty-one  persons 
into  church  membership,  of  whom  about  one-half  have 
been  on  confession  of  faith.  He  has  published  several 
volumes  and  over  two  thousand  articles  in  the  leading 
religious  newspapers.  The  present  membership  of  the 
Lafayette  Avenue  Church  is  nineteen  hundred  and 
twenty  persons.  His  congregations  are  very  large  on 
every  Sunday,  and  he  is  an  untiring  pastor,  especially 
zealous  for  temperance.  He  preaches  the  old  orthodox 
gospel,  with  no  "modern  improvements."  His  dis- 
courses are  able  and  eloquent,  while  his  chief  aim  in 
the  pulpit  is  to  reach  the  heart. 

Justin  D.  Fulton,  D.D.,  is  still  another  eminent 
clergyman  of  Brooklyn.  He  was  born  in  1828,  in 
Sherburne,  Madison  County,  New  York,  and  literally 
worked  his  way  through  college  and  to  the  ministry. 
He  began  his  public  life  in  St.  Louis,  where  he  was 
engaged  as  editor  of  the  Gospel  Banner.  Preaching  in 
the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church  of  that  city,  he  delivered 
the  first  Free-state  sermon  ever  heard  in  St.  Louis.  He 
also  put  his  anti-slavery  sentiments  into  his  paper,  and 
was  shortly  deposed  from  his  position  as  editor  because 


BROOKLYN.  79 

he  would  not  believe  slavery  to  be  right  and  defend  it. 
From  St.  Louis  he  went  to  Sandusky,  Ohio,  preaching 
there  a  short  period;  and  from  thence,  in  1859,  to  Al- 
bany, New  York,  where  he  became  pastor  of  the  Taber- 
nacle Church.  In  1863  he  received  a  call  from  the 
Tremont  Temple  Church  of  Boston,  and  labored  with 
that  church  for  ten  years,  increasing  its  membership 
from  fifty  to  one  thousand.  In  1873,  he  became  pastor 
of  the  Hanson  Place  Church,  of  Brooklyn,  leaving  it, 
however,  in  1875,  to  organize  the  Centennial  Baptist 
Church,  in  the  same  city.  His  popularity  as  a  preacher 
became  so  great  that  it  was  presently  found  necessary  to 
seek  a  larger  place  of  worship.  Therefore,  in  1879,  the 
Rink  was  purchased,  for  much  less  than  its  original  cost, 
and  was  consecrated  as  a  People's  Church.  The  Rink 
is  an  immense  edifice,  capable  of  seating  nearly  six 
thousand  persons. 

Dr.  Fulton  is  an  able  writer,  having  published  a 
number  of  volumes,  the  most  prominent  among  which 
is  "  The  Roman  Catholic  Element  in  America."  In  the 
old  days  of  slavery  he  was  a  most  able  and  eloquent 
anti-slavery  advocate,  and  as  such  created  strong  preju- 
dice against  himself  in  certain  quarters.  He  preached 
the  funeral  sermon  of  Colonel  Ellsworth,  in  Tweddle 
Hall,  Albany,  in  which  he  said  that  the  war  must  go  on 
until  the  musket  should  be  put  in  the  hands  of  the 
black  man,  and  he  was  permitted  to  prove  his  manhood 
on  the  battle  field.  This  drew  down  upon  him  the  de- 
nunciation of  the  conservative  press;  but  he  was  ap- 
pointed Chaplain  of  Governor  Morgan's  staff,  and 
served  in  hospital  and  camp.  He  is  no  less  famous 
as  an  advocate  of  temperance,  and  devotes  much  of  his 
energies  to  work  in  this  field. 


80         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

In  person,  Dr.  Fulton  is  tall,  stout,  finely  formed, 
with  black  whiskers  and  moustache,  and  a  somewhat 
bald  forehead.  His  manner  in  the  pulpit  is  full  of 
earnestness  and  impetuosity.  He  sometimes  overwhelms 
his  audience  with  a  whirlwind  of  words.  He  has  strong 
magnetic  and  nervous  power,  while  he  impresses  his 
listeners  with  his  sincerity  and  candor.  He  makes 
frequent  and  expressive  gestures,  and  combines  in  his 
oratory  the  carefulness  of  art  with  the  fire  of  genius. 
In  belief  he  is  thoroughly  orthodox,  having  no  leanings 
toward  the  self-styled  "  liberality "  of  many  popular 
clergymen. 

R.  S.  Storrs,  D.D.,  is  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrims,  at  the  corner  of  Remsen  and  Henry  streets. 
He  is  one  of  the  most  noted  clergymen  of  the  city,  and 
was  selected  to  assist  in  the  opening  of  the  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge,  making  one  of  the 
addresses  of  the  occasion. 

The  Unitarian  Church  of  the  Saviour,  at  the  corner  of 
Pierrepont  street  and  Monroe  Place,  is  an  elaborate 
Gothic  edifice,  as  is  also  St.  Ann's  Episcopal  Church, 
at  the  corner  of  Clinton  and  Livingston  streets.  The 
Roman  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  in 
Sidney  Place,  is  famous  for  its  music.  The  Dutch 
Reformed  Church,  in  Pierrepont  street,  is  of  brown 
stone,  in  the  Roman  Corinthian  style,  and  the  interior 
elaborately  finished. 

The  United  States  Navy  Yard  is  one  of  the  features 
of  Brooklyn,  and  is  the  chief  naval  station  of  the 
country.  It  is  on  the  south  shore  of  Wallabout  Bay, 
and  contains  forty-five  acres.  The  yard  is  inclosed  by  a 
high  brick  wall,  and  contains  numerous  foundries, 
workshops  and  storehouses.  Vessels  of  every  kind  used 


BROOKLYN.  81 

by  the  navy  may  be  seen  at  almost  any  time  at  the  yard, 
and  it  has  also  a  large  and  varied  collection  of  trophies 
taken  in  war  and  relics  of  earlier  times,  which  prove  of 
interest  to  the  visitor. 

At  the  other  extremity  of  Brooklyn,  a  mile  below 
South  Ferry,  is  the  Atlantic  Dock,  which  covers  an  area 
of  forty-two  and  one-half  acres,  and  deserves  special 
attention.  It  is  surrounded  by  piers  of  solid  granite, 
upon  which  are  spacious  warehouses. 

In  the  heart  of  the  city,  a  little  south  of  the  Navy 
Yard,  between  Myrtle  and  DeKalb  avenues,  is  Wash- 
ington Park,  or  old  Fort  Greene.  It  is  on  an  elevated 
plateau,  contains  thirty  acres,  and  commands  extensive 
views.  Its  name  of  Fort  Greene  dates  back  to  the  time 
of  the  Revolution,  when  it  was  the  seat  of  extensive 
fortifications. 

The  special  pride  of  Brooklyn  is  Prospect  Park,  one 
of  the  finest  in  America,  where  art  and  the  landscape 
gardener  have  assisted  rather  than  thwarted  nature  in 
her  efforts  to  produce  beauty.  It  is  situated  on  an 
elevated  ridge  on  the  southeastern  borders  of  the  city, 
and  from  certain  localities  it  commands  broad  views  of 
Brooklyn,  New  York,  the  inner  and  outer  harbor,  and 
the  Jersey  shore.  It  contains  five  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  which  embrace  broad,  green  lawns,  grassy  slopes, 
groves,  wooded  hills,  beautiful  with  ferns  and  wild 
flowers,  lakes  and  rocky  dells.  It  contains  eight  miles 
of  drives,  four  miles  of  bridle  paths,  and  eleven  miles  of 
walks.  At  the  main  entrance,  on  Flatbush  avenue,  is 
a  large,  circular  open  place  known  as  the  Plaza,  paved 
with  stone  and  bordered  by  grassy  mounds.  A  fountain 
of  novel  design  furnishes  the  welcome  sound  of  splash- 
ing, trickling  water,  and  not  far  distant  from  it  is  a 


82        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

bronze  statue  of  President  Lincoln.  Within  the  Park, 
on  an  eminence  overlooking  the  cottages  and  dejl,  is  a 
monument,  erected  in  1877,  to  the  memory  of  John 
Howard  Payne,  author  of  "  Home,  Sweet  Home." 

On  Gowanus  Heights,  overlooking  Gowanus  Bay,  in 
the  southern  portion  of  Brooklyn,  is  situated  Green- 
wood Cemetery,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  "  cities  of  the 
dead"  in  the  world.  It  was  laid  out  in  1842,  and 
contains  over  five  hundred  acres.  At  least  two  hundred 
thousand  interments  have  been  made  in  it.  It  is  a 
perfect  wilderness  of  beauty.  The  surface  of  the  ground 
is  uneven,  and  hills  and  valleys,  grassy  slopes,  beautiful 
little  lakes  with  fountains  playing  in  their  midst,  over- 
shadowing trees,  a  profusion  of  brilliant  flowers,  and 
the  white  or  gray  gleam  of  a  thousand  monuments, 
varied  and  beautiful  in  design,  all  unite  in  forming  an 
exquisite  spot  for  the  resting  place  of  the  dead,  which  is 
a  fitting  embodiment  and  expression  of  the  loving 
remembrance  in  which  they  continue  to  be  held  by  the 
living.  Among  the  many  elegant  and  expensive  monu- 
ments which  this  cemetery  contains,  not  one  will  attract 
more  attention  for  its  beauty  and  elaborateness  than  that 
erected  to  Charlotte  Canda,  a  young  French  girl,  whose 
fortune  was  expended  in  the  marble  pile  above  her 
grave.  The  main  entrance  to  Greenwood,  near  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Twenty-third  street,  has  a  magnificent  gate- 
way in  the  pointed  Gothic  style,  and  opens  upon  a  most 
enchanting  landscape.  On  an  elevation  to  the  right  of 
this  entrance,  within  this  cemetery,  is  obtained  an  exten- 
sive view  of  Brooklyn  and  the  bay.  The  cemetery 
contains  nineteen  miles  of  carriage  roads,  and  seventeen 
miles  of  footpaths. 

Four  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Greenwood  are  the 


BROOKLYN.  83 

cemeteries  of  the  Evergreen  and  Cypress  Hills,  both 
beautiful  spots,  and  the  latter  especially  celebrated  as 
containing  the  grave  of  a  large  number  of  soldiers  of  the 
late  war. 

Radiating  from  Brooklyn,  in  almost  every  direction, 
are  routes  leading  to  some  of  the  most  frequented  plea- 
sure resorts  of  the  country.  On  the  southern  coast  of 
Long  Island,  just  east  of  the  Narrows,  is  Coney  Island, 
four  and  a  half  miles  long,  with  a  firm,  gently-sloping 
beach.  The  island  is  divided  into  four  distinct  places 
of  resort :  Coney  Island  Point,  or  Morton's,  at  the  west 
end,  the  oldest  of  the  four ;  West  Brighton  Beach,  or 
Cable's,  where  there  is  an  iron  pier  one  thousand  feet 
long,  extending  out  into  the  ocean,  and  an  observatory 
three  hundred  feet  high  ;  Brighton  Beach,  connecting 
with  West  Brighton  by  a  wide  drive  and  promenade, 
known  as  the  Concourse ;  and  Manhattan  Beach,  the 
most  fashionable  resort  on  the  island.  At  the  latter 
place  are  two  vast  hotels,  and  an  amphitheatre,  with  three 
thousand  five  hundred  seats,  upon  the  beach,  for  the 
accommodation  of  those  who  wish  to  watch  the  bathers. 

Rockaway  Beach  is  to  the  westward  of  Coney  Island, 
and  is  about  four  miles  long,  with  surf  bathing  on  one 
side  and  still  bathing  on  the  other.  A  colossal  tubular 
iron  pier,  twelve  hundred  feet  long,  extends  out  into  the 
ocean,  affording  a  landing  for  steamboats. 

Staten  Island,  the  western  boundary  of  the  Narrows, 
is  a  sort  of  earthly  paradise,  which  separates  the  Lower 
Bay  from  the  Upper.  It  is  a  beautiful  island,  having 
an  area  of  nearly  sixty  square  miles,  and  rising  boldly 
from  the  waters  of  the  bays.  It  commands  exten- 
sive views  over  harbor  and  ocean,  and  is  a  favorite 
summer  home  or  place  of  temporary  resort. 


84        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Along  the  shores  of  the  Sound  are  many  places  for 
summer  rest  and  recreation.  Glen  Island,  lying  in  the 
East  River,  is  a  famous  and  attractive  picnicing  spot 
for  both  New  Yorkers  and  Brooklynites. 

Brooklyn  is  a  beautiful  and  an  extensive  city,  a  fitting 
suburb  of  the  metropolis.  The  additional  facilities  for 
transit  between  the  two  cities  afforded  by  the  completion 
of  the  Suspension  Bridge  will  tend  to  her  material 
advantage,  drawing  thither  a  still  larger  class  of  people 
to  make  their  homes  in  its  quiet  suburban  streets  and 
avenues,  out  of  the  noise  and  whirl  of  the  great  city. 
Her  prosperity  must  keep  pace  with  that  of  her  elder 
sister,  and  so  close  is  the  bond  of  common  interest  between 
them,  that  whatever  benefits  one  must  benefit  the  other. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BALTIMORE. 

Position  of  Baltimore. — Streets. — Cathedral  and  Churches. — Pub- 
lic Buildings. — Educational  Institutions. — Art  Collections. — 
Charitable  Institutions. —  Monuments. — Railway  Tunnels. — 
Parks  and  Cemeteries. — Druid  Hill  Park. — Commerce  and 
Manufactures. — Foundation  of  the  City. — Early  History. — Bona- 
parte-Patterson Marriage. — Storming  of  Baltimore  in  1814. — 
Maryland  at  the  Breaking-out  of  the  Rebellion. — Assault  on 
Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  in  April,  1861. — Subsequent 
Events  during  the  War. — Baltimore  Proves  Herself  Loyal. — 
Re-union  of  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  in  Baltimore,  Septem- 
ber, 1882.— Old  Differences  Forgotten  and  Fraternal  Relations 
Established. 

rTIHE  first  in  commercial  and  manufacturing  import- 
JL  ance  of  all  southern  cities  is  Baltimore,  situated 
on  the  north  branch  of  the  Patapsco  River,  fourteen 
miles  from  its  entrance  into  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and 
one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  miles  from  the  Atlantic.  It  - 
embraces  an  area  of  nearly  twelve  square  miles,  about 
one-half  of  which  is  built  up  solidly  with  residences  and 
business  houses.  The  city  is  divided  into  East  and 
West  Baltimore,  by  Jones'  Falls,  a  small  stream  running 
nearly  north  and  south,  and  spanned  by  numerous 
bridges.  The  northwest  branch  of  the  Patapsco  also 
runs  up  into  the  heart  of  the  city,  forming  a  basin,  into 
which  small  vessels  can  enter.  The  outer  harbor,  or 
main  branch  of  the  Patapsco,  is  accessible  to  the  largest 
ships.  The  harbor  is  a  safe  and  a  capacious  one,  capa- 
ble of  furnishing  anchorage  to  a  thousand  vessels.  At 
the  point  of  the  ^peninsula  separating  the  two  brandies 

85 


86         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  the  river  is  situated  Fort  McHenry,  which  defends 
the  entrance,  and  which  was  unsuccessfully  bombarded 
by  the  British  fleet  in  the  War  of  1812. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  city  is  striking  and 
picturesque.  It  is  regularly  laid  out,  the  streets  for  the 
most  part  crossing  one  another  at  right  angles,  but  there 
is  sufficient  diversity  to  prevent  sameness.  Thus  while 
the  main  part  of  the  city  is  laid  out  with  streets  running 
north  and  south,  crossed  by  others  running  east  and 
west,  large  sections  show  streets  running  diagonally  to 
the  points  of  the  compass.  The  surface  of  the  ground 
upon  which  the  city  is  built  is  undulating,  and  its  streets 
are  moderately  wide.  Baltimore  street,  running  east 
and  west,  is  the  main  business  thoroughfare,  containing 
the  principal  retail  stores  and  hotels.  North  Charles 
street  is  the  most  fashionable  promenade,  while  Mount 
Vernon  Place,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  Monument  and 
Broadway  are  favorite  resorts. 

The  city  abounds  in  handsome  edifices.  A  generation 
ago,  the  Catholic  Cathedral,  at  the  corner  of  Mulberry 
and  Cathedral  streets — a  large  granite  edifice  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  long,  one 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  feet  at  the  arms  of  the  cross, 
and  surmounted  by  a  dome  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  feet  high — was  the  especial  pride  and  boast  of 
Baltimoreans.  At  its  west  end  are  two  tall  towers  with 
Saracenic  cupolas,  resembling  the  minarets  of  a  Moham- 
medan mosque.  It  contains  one  of  the  largest  organs 
in  America,  and  two  valuable  paintings,  "  The  Descent 
from  the  Cross,"  the  gift  of  Louis  XVI,  and  "St.  Louis 
burying  his  officers  and  soldiers  slain  before  Tunis," 
presented  by  Charles  X,  of  France.  Now  other 
buildings  are  found  equally  as  magnificent.  The  Roman 


BALTIMORE.  87 

Catholic  churches  of  St.  Alphonsus,  at  the  corner  of  Sara- 
toga and  Park  Streets,  and  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  in 
North  Front  Street,  are  fine  in  architectural  design  and 
interior  decorations.  The  Unitarian  Church,  at  the 
corner  of  North  Charles  and  Franklin  streets,  is  a  hand- 
some edifice,  faced  by  a  colonnade  composed  of  four  Tus- 
can columns  and  two  pilasters,  which  form  arcades,  and 
containing  five  bronze  entrance  doors.  Grace  Church, 
Episcopal,  at  the  corner  of  Monument  and  Park  streets, 
and  Emmanuel  Church,  also  Episcopal,  at  the  corner  of 
Heed  and  Cathedral  streets,  are  handsome  gothic  struc- 
tures, the  former  of  red  and  the  latter  of  gray  sandstone. 
Christ's  and  St.  Peter's  Episcopal  churches,  the  one  at 
the  corner  of  St.  Paul  and  Chase  streets,  and  the  other 
at  the  corner  of  Druid  Hill  avenue  and  Lanvale  street, 
are  both  of  marble.  The  Eutaw  Place  Baptist  Church, 
at  the  corner  of  Eutaw  and  Dolphin  streets,  has  a  beau- 
tiful marble  spire  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  feet  high. 
The  First  Presbyterian  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Park 
and  Madison  streets,  has  a  spire  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  feet  high,  with  .side  towers,  respectively  seventy- 
eight  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet  in  height, 
and  is  the  most  elaborate  specimen  of  Lancet-Gothic 
architecture  in  the  country.  The  Westminster,  at  the 
corner  of  Green  and  Fayette  streets,  contains  the  grave 
and  monument  of  Edgar  Allan  Poe.  Mount  Vernon 
Church,  which  fronts  Washington  Monument,  at  the 
corner  of  Charles  and  Monument  streets,  and  is  in  the 
most  aristocratic  residence  quarter  of  Baltimore,  is  built 
of  green  serpentine  stone,  with  buff  Ohio  and  red  Connecti- 
cut sandstone,  and  has  eighteen  polished  columns  of  Aber- 
deen granite.  The  Hebrew  Synagogue,  in  Lloyd  street 
near  Baltimore  street,  is  a  large  and  handsome  edifice. 


88        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  City  Hall,  filling  the  entire  square  bounded  by 
Holliday,  Lexington,  North  and  Fayette  streets,  built 
of  marble,  in  the  Renaissance  style,  was  completed  in 
1875,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  municipal  edifices  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  four  stories  in  height,  with  a 
French  roof,  and  an  iron  dome  two  hundred  and  sixty 
feet  high,  with  a  balcony  elevated  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  above  the  sidewalk,  from  which  a  magnificent  view 
of  the  city  may  be  obtained.  The  Masonic  Temple,  in 
Charles  street,  near  Saratoga,  is  a  handsome  building, 
completed  in  1870,  at  a  cost  of  $200,000.  The  Exchange, 
in  Gay  street,  between  Second  and  Lombard  streets,  is 
an  extensive  structure,  surmounted  by  an  immense  dome, 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  high,  and  fifty-three  feet  in . 
diameter,  which  overarches  a  spacious  and  brilliantly 
frescoed  rotunda.  Six  Ionic  columns,  the  shafts  of 
which  are  single  blocks  of  Italian  marble,  form  colon- 
nades on  the  east  and  west  sides.  It  contains  the  United 
States  Custom  House,  Post  Office,  Merchants'  Bank, 
and  a  fine,  large  reading-room.  The  Corn  and  Flour 
Exchange,  the  Rialto  Building,  Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  Building,  are  all  modern  and  elegant  struc- 
tures. The  Merchant's  Shot  Tower,  which  stands  at  the 
corner  of  Front  and  Fayette  streets,  is  two  hundred  and 
sixteen  feet  high,  and  from  sixty  to  twenty  feet  in 
diameter,  and  is  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  city.  One 
million,  one  hundred  thousand  bricks  were  used  in  its 
construction. 

Peabody  Institute  faces  "Washington  monument,  on  the 
south,  and  was  founded  and  endowed  by  George  Peabody, 
the  eminent  American-born  London  banker,  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge  among  the  people.  It  contains  a  free 
library  of  fifty-eight  thousand  volumes,  a  conservatory 


BALTIMORE.  .    89 

of  music,  lecture  hall,  and  a  Department  of  Art,  which 
includes  art  collections  and  an  art  school.  The  Athe- 
nseum,  at  the  corner  of  Saratoga  and  St.  Paul  streets, 
contains  the  Merchants'  Library,  with  twenty-six 
thousand  volumes,  the  Baltimore  Library,  with  fifteen 
thousand  volumes,  and  the  collections  of  the  Maryland 
Historical  Society,  comprising  a  library  of  ten  thousand 
volumes,  numerous  historical  relics,  and  fine  pictures  and 
statuary.  The  Johns  Hopkins  University,  which  was 
endowed  with  over  three  millions  of  dollars,  by  Johns 
Hopkins,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Baltimore,  who  died  in 
1873,  has  a  temporary  location  at  the  corner  of  Howard 
street  and  Druid  Hill  avenue,  but  will  probably  be  per- 
manently located  at  Clifton,  two  miles  from  the  city  on 
the  Harford  road.  The  Johns  Hopkins  Hospital,  to  be 
connected  with  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  and  endowed  with  over  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars  by  the  same  generous  testator,  is  in 
process  of  construction  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Monument  street,  and  will  be  the  finest  building  of  its 
kind  in  America.  The  Maryland  Institute  is  a  vast 
structure  at  the  corner  of  Baltimore  and  Harrison  streets, 
and  is  designed  for  the  promotion  of  the  mechanical  arts. 
The  main  hall  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  and 
in  it  is  held  an  annual  exhibition  of  the  products  of 
American  mechanical  industry.  It  contains  a  library  of 
fourteen  thousand  volumes,  a  lecture  room,  and  a  school 
of  design.  The  first  floor  is  used  as  a  market.  The 
Academy  of  Science,  in  Mulberry  street,  opposite 
Cathedral  street,  has  a  fine  museum  of  natural  history, 
embracing  a  rich  collection  of  birds  and  minerals,  and 
including  a  complete  representation  of  the  flora  and 
fauna  of  Maryland. 


90        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Not  only  is  Baltimore  noted  for  free  educational 
institutions,  but  for  her  art  collections  as  well.  Annual 
exhibitions  of  American  paintings  are  held  in  the 
Athenaeum,  and  the  Academy  of  Art  and  Science  con- 
tains a  fine  collection  of  paintings,  engravings  and  casts. 
The  private  art  gallery  of  W.  T.  Walters,  Esq.,  of  No.  G5 
Mount  Vernon  Place,  is  one  of  the  finest  in  America. 

There  are  numerous  charitable  institutions  in  the  city, 
prominent  among  which  are  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane, 
in  East  Monument  street ;  Institution  for  the  Instruc- 
tion of  the  Blind,  in  North  avenue  near  Charles  street ; 
State  Insane  Asylum,  a  massive  pile  of  granite  buildings, 
near  Catousville,  six  miles  from  the  city;  Bay  View 
Asylum,  an  almshouse,  on  a  commanding  eminence  near 
the  outskirts  of  the  city,  on  the  Philadelphia  road ; 
Mount  Hope  Hospital,  conducted  by  the  Sisters  of  Char- 
ity, on  North  avenue,  corner  of  Bolton  street ;  Episcopal 
Church  Home,  in  Broadway  near  Baltimore  street; 
Sheppard  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  founded  by  Moses 
Sheppard,  a  wealthy  Quaker,  situated  on  a  commanding 
site  near  Towsontown,  seven  miles  from  the  city,  and 
Mount  Hope  Retreat  for  the  insane  and  sick,  four  miles 
from  the  city,  on  the  Reistertown  road. 

But  her  monuments  are  the  special  pride  of  Baltimore, 
and  from  them  she  derives  her  name  of  "  The  Monu- 
mental City."  Chief  among  them  is  Washington 
Monument,  whose  construction  was  authorized  by  the 
Legislature  in  1809,  the  land  being  donated  for  the 
purpose  by  Colonel  John  Eager  Howard.  It  stands 
one  hundred  feet  above  tide  water,  in  Mount  Vernon 
Place,  at  the  intersection  of  Monument  and  Washington 
streets.  It  is  a  Doric  shaft  rising  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  and  one-half  feet,  from  a  base  fifty  feet 


BALTIMORE.  91 

square  by  thirty-five  feet  high,  the  whole  surmounted 
by  a  colossal  figure  of  Washington,  fifteen  feet  high,  the 
whole  rising  more  than  three  hundred  feet  ajbove  the 
level  of  the  river.  It  is  built  of  brick,  cased  with  white 
marble,  and  cost  $200,000.  From  the  balcony  at  the 
head  of  the  shaft,  reached  by  a  winding  stairs  within,  a 
most  extensive  view  of  the  city,  harbor  and  surrounding 
country  may  be  obtained.  Battle  Monument  stands  in 
Battle  Square,  at  the  intersection  of  Calvert  and  Fayette 
streets,  and  is  commemorative  of  those  who  fell  defend- 
ing the  city  when  it  was  attacked  by  the  British  in 
1814.  A  square  base,  twenty  feet  high,  with  a  pedestal 
ornamented  at  four  corners  by  a  sculptured  griffin,  has 
on  each  front  an  Egyptian  door,  on  which  are  appropriate 
inscriptions  and  basso  relievo  decorations  illustrating 
certain  incidents  in  the  battle.  A  fascial  column  eigh- 
teen feet  in  height  rises  above  the  base,  surrounded  by 
bands  on  which  are  inscribed  the  names  of  those  who 
fell.  The  column  is  surmounted  by  a  female  figure  in 
marble,  emblematic  of  the  city  of  Baltimore.  The  Poe 
Monument,  raised  in  memory  of  Baltimore's  poet,  Edgar 
Allan  Poe,  stands  in  the  churchyard  of  Westminster 
Presbyterian  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Green  and  Fayette 
streets.  The  Wildey  Monument  has  a  plain  marble 
pediment  and  shaft,  surmounted  by  a  group  representing 
Charity  protecting  orphans,  and  has  been  raised  in  honor 
of  Thomas  Wildey,  the  founder  of  the  order  of  Odd 
Fellows  in  the  United  States.  It  is  on  Broadway  near 
Baltimore  street.  The  Wells  and  McComas  Monument, 
at  the  corner  of  Gay  and  Monument  streets,  perpetuates 
the  memory  of  two  boys  bearing  those  names,  who  shot 
General  Ross,  the  British  Commander,  on  September 
twelfth,  1814. 


92        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  railway  tunnels,  by  which  the  railroads  on  the 
north  side  of  the  city  are  connected  with  tide  water  at 
Canton,  are  among  the  wonders  of  Baltimore.  That  of 
the  Baltimore  and  Potomac  Road  is  second  in  length  only 
to  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  in  America,  it  being  6969  feet 
long,  while  the  Union  tunnel  is  half  the  length.  They 
were  completed  in  1873,  at  a  cost  of  four  million,  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  Previous  to  their  construc- 
tion, passengers  and  freight  were  transferred  through  the 
city  by  means  of  horses  and  mules  attached  to  the  cars. 

Federal  Hill  is  a  commanding  eminence  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river  basin,  and  from  it  extensive  views  are 
obtained  of  the  city  and  harbor.  It  was  occupied  by 
Union  troops  during  the  civil  war,  and  now  contains  a 
United  States  Signal  Station.  It  has  been  purchased  by 
the  city  for  a  park.  Greenmount  Cemetery,  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  city,  and  Loudon  Park  Cemetery,  both 
have  imposing  entrances  and  contain  handsome  monu- 
ments. Patterson  Park,  at  the  east  end  of  Baltimore 
street,  contains  seventy  acres  handsomely  laid  out,  and 
commanding  extensive  views. 

The  people  of  the  present  day  can  scarcely  compre- 
hend the  grand  scale  on  which  landscape  gardening  was 
attempted  a  hundred  or  more  years  ago.  "  The  lauded 
gentry,  themselves  or  their  fathers  immigrants  from 
England,  considered  a  well-kept  park,  like  those  of  the 
immense  English  estates,  an  essential  to  an  American  one. 
To  this  day  may  be  seen  traces  of  their  efforts  in  this  di- 
rection, in  stately  avenues  of  venerable  trees,  which  the 
iconoclastic  hand  of  modern  progress  has  considerately 
spared.  In  some  rare  instances  whole  estates  have  re- 
mained untouched,  and  have  become  public  property,  and 
their  beauties  thus  perpetuated.  Bona venture  Cemetery, 


BALTIMORE.  93 

near  Savannah,  is  a  notable  instance  of  this,  where  a  mag- 
nificently planned  Southern  plantation  has  been  trans- 
ferred from  private  to  public  hands,  and  its  valuable  trees 
remain,  though  the  hand  of  art,  in  attempting  to  improve, 
has  rather  marred  the  majestic  beauty  of  the  place. 
Lemon  Hill,  the  nucleus  of  Fairmount  Park,  in  Phila- 
delphia, was,  in  revolutionary  times,  the- estate  of  Robert 
Morris,  and  though  the  landscape  gardener  has  been 
almost  ruthless  in  his  improvements  (?),  he  has  been 
considerate  enough  to  spare  some  of  the  century-old 
trees.  To  the  same  private  enterprise,  love  of  the 
picturesque  and  appreciation  of  beauty,  Baltimore  is 
indebted  for  Druid  Hill  Park,  in  the  northern  suburbs 
of  the  city.  Colonel  Nicholas  Rogers,  a  soldier  of  the 
Revolution  and  a  gentleman  of  taste  and  leisure,  when 
the  war  was  over,  retired  to  his  country  residence,  a 
little  distance  from  Baltimore,  then  a  city  of  some  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his 
life  to  improving  and  adorning  its  extensive  grounds. 
He  seemed  a  thorough  master  of  landscape  gardening, 
and  all  his  plans  were  most  carefully  matured,  so  that  the 
trees  are  most  artistically  grouped  and  alternated  with 
lawns  ;  dense  masses  of  foliage  are  broken  into  by  bays 
and  avenues,  and  beautiful  vistas  secured  in  various 
directions.  Also  in  the  selection  of  his  trees  a  careful 
consideration  was  had  of  their  autumn  foliage,  so  that 
fine  contrasts  of  color  should  be  produced  at  that  season 
of  the  year.  The  result  of  all  this  care  and  labor  was 
one  of  the  most  charming  and  enchanting  private  parks 
which  the  country  afforded.  It  contained  an  area  of 
nearly  five  hundred  acres. 

When    Colonel    Rogers    died,  his   son,    Lloyd    N. 
Rogers,  who  seemed  to  have  inherited  only  in  part  the 


94        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

tastes  of  his  father,  devoted  himself  solely  to  the  culti- 
vation of  fruit,  doing  nothing  to  add  to  or  preserve  the 
beauty  of  his  domain,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  allowing 
it  to  fall  into  neglect  and  decay.  However,  the  harm 
that  he  wrought  was  only  negative,  for  he  did  nothing 
to  mar  it,  and  preserved,  with  jealous  care,  the  grand 
old  trees  which  his  father  had  planted,  and  with  unre- 
mitting vigilance  warded  off  interlopers  and  depredators. 
The  estate  was  secluded  from  the  outside  world  by 
fringes  of  woodland,  and  though  the  city  had  gradually 
crept  to  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  few  people  knew 
anything  of  its  beauties.  When,  therefore,  the  Commis- 
sion appointed  to  select  the  site  for  a  new  park  decided 
upon  Druid  Hill  as  the  most  available  for  that  purpose, 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  detail  its  advantages.  Mr. 
Rogers  reluctantly  consented  to  accept  one  thousand  dol- 
lars an  acre  for  his  estate,  and  it  became  city  property. 
Subsequently,  other  small  pieces  of  adjoining  property 
were  bought,  and  Druid  Lake  and  grounds  were  finally 
added,  and  the  people  of  Baltimore  found  themselves 
in  the  possession  of  a  park  embracing  an  area  of  six 
hundred  and  eighty  acres,  which  needed  not  to  be  created, 
but  only  to  be  improved,  to  be  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful in  the  country. 

There  has  been  but  little  attempt  at  architectural  decor- 
ation. A  costly  and  imposing  gateway,  a  Moorish  music 
stand,  bright  with  many  colors,  a  boat-house  crowning  a 
little  island  in  a  miniature  lake,  a  pretty  bridge  and  a 
Moorish  arch  thrown  across  a  ravine,  a  few  handsome 
fountains,  and,  finally,  the  old  mansion,  renovated  and 
enlarged,  standing  out  against  the  densely-wooded  hill 
from  which  the  park  takes  its  name — these  are  about  all 
which  have  been  attempted  in  that  line.  The  surface 


BALTIMORE.  95 

of  the  Park  is  gently  undulating,  with  occasional  -bold 
eminences  from  which  tine  views  may  be  obtained  of 
the  city  and  surrounding  country.  Its  special  attrac- 
tions are  its  secluded  walks,  well-kept  drives  and  tree- 
arched  bridle-paths,  its  smooth,  velvety  turf,  and  the 
venerable  beauty  of  its  trees,  which  are  the  oldest  of 
those  of  any  park  in  the  country.  Its  glades  and  dells 
have  been  left  as  nature  made  them,  having  been  spared 
the  artificial  touches  of  the  landscape  gardener ;  and  its 
little  trickling  springs  and  cool,  secluded  brooks,  have  a 
sylvan,  rustic  beauty  which  is  surpassingly  delightful. 

The  future  care  and  improvement  of  the  Park  are 
well  provided  for.  About  the  time  that  it  became  a 
matter  of  public  interest,  the  charter  for  the  first  line  of 
street  passenger  railways  was  granted,  and  this  charter 
stipulated  that  one-fifth  of  the  gross  receipts  of  the 
road,  or  one  cent  for  each  passenger  carried,  should  be 
paid  to  the  city,  to  constitute  a  Park  Fund.  This 
amount,  small  at  first,  but  gradually  increasing  until  it 
now  amounts  to  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
annually,  was  devoted  first  to  paying  the  interest  on  the 
Park  bonds,  and  finally  to  the  preservation  and  improve- 
ment of  the  Park.  The  Park  Commissioners,  who 
receive  no  pay  for  their  services,  have  most  judiciously 
administered  the  fund  entrusted  to  their  care. 

The  foreign  and  coasting  trade  of  Baltimore  are  both 
extensive.  Two  lines  of  steamships  leave  the  port 
weekly  for  Europe,  and  she  commands  a  large  share  of 
the  trade  of  the  West  and  Northwest.  Her  shipments 
to  Europe  are  principally  grain,  tobacco,  cotton,  petro- 
leum and  provisions.  The  city  contains  rolling  mills, 
iron  works,  nail  factories,  locomotive  works,  cotton 
factories  and  other  industrial  establishments,  num.- 


96         PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

bering  more  than  two  thousand  in  all.  The  rich 
copper  ores  of  Lake  Superior  are  chiefly  worked 
here,  and  nearly  four  thousand  tons  of  refined  copper 
are  produced  annually.  The  smelting  works  in  Canton, 
a  southern-  suburb  of  the  city,  employ  one  thousand 
men.  There  are  also  extensive  flouring  mills,  while 
oysters,  fruit  and  vegetables,  to  the  value  of  five  million 
dollars,  are  canned  annually.  Five  hundred  thousand 
hides  are  also  annually  made  into  leather  and  sent  to 
New  England.  Baltimore  oysters  are  renowned  as  being 
among  the  best  the  Atlantic  seaboard  produces,  and  no 
one  should  think  of  visiting  the  city  without  testing 
them.  The  Chesapeake  oyster  beds  are  apparently  ex-: 
haustless,  and  supply  plants  for  beds  all  along  the  coast. 

Although  the  first  settlements  in  Maryland  were  made 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  present  site  of 
Baltimore  was  not  chosen  until  1729,  and  in  1745  the 
town  was  named  Baltimore,  in  honor  of  Lord  Baltimore, 
a  Catholic,  to  whom  the  patent  of  the  province  of  Mary- 
land had  been  originally  made  out.  In  1782  the  first 
regular  communication  with  Philadelphia,  by  means  of 
a  line  of  stage  coaches,  was  established,  and  Baltimore 
was  chartered  as  a  city  in  1787,  having  at  that  time  a 
population  of  twenty  thousand,  which,  by  1850,  had 
increased  to  nearly  two  hundred  thousand ;  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  census  of  1880,  the  population  was  332,190 
inhabitants.  In  1780  the  city  became  a  port  of  entry, 
and  in  1782  the  first  pavement  was  laid  in  Baltimore 
street. 

In  1803  Baltimore  became  the  scene  of  a  romance 
which  is  even  yet  remembered  with  interest.  Jerome 
Bonaparte,  the  youngest  brother  of  Napoleon,  born  in 
Ajaccio,  November  fifteenth,  17843  found  himself,  in 


BALTIMORE.  97 

the  year  just  mentioned,  while  cruising  off  the  West 
Indies,  on  account  of  the  war  between  France  and 
England,  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  New  York.  Being 
introduced  into  the  best  society  of  that  and  neighboring 
cities,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Elizabeth 
Patterson,  daughter  of  a  merchant  of  Baltimore.  The 
manner  of  their  introduction  was  peculiar.  In  a  crowded 
saloon  the  button  of  young  Bonaparte's  coat  caught  in 
the  dress  of  a  young  lady,  and  as  it  took  a  little  time  to 
disengage  it,  the  future  King  of  Westphalia  had  oppor- 
tunity to  see  that  the  lady  was  young,  surpassingly 
beautiful  and  charming.  This  interview,  by  some  who 
knew  the  lady  and  who  were  acquainted  with  her 
ambition,  thought  to  be  not  entirely  accidental,  resulted, 
on  the  twenty-seventh  of  December  of  the  same  year,  in 
a  marriage  between  the  two,  the  bridegroom  being  but 
nineteen  years  of  age.  Being  summoned  back  to  France 
by  his  Imperial  brother,  he  was  quickly  followed  by  his 
young  wife,  who,  however,  was  not  permitted  to  land  in 
France,  and  retired  to  England,  where  she  shortly  after- 
wards gave  birth  to  a  son,  whom  she  named  Jerome, 
after  his  father.  Napoleon  annulled  the  marriage,  on 
the  ground  that  it  had  been  made  contrary  to  French 
law,  which  stipulates  that  the  consent  of  parents  must 
be  gained  in  order  to  legalize  a  marriage.  Jerome 
was  compelled,  after  he  succeeded  to  the  Westphalian 
crown,  to  marry  Sophia  Dorothea,  daughter  of  King 
Frederick  I,  of  Wurtemburg.  Madame  Patterson,  as 
she  was  called  to  the  day  of  her  death,  though  she  main- 
tained her  title  to  the  name  of  Bonaparte,  having  an 
utter  scorn  for  America  and  its  democratic  institutions, 
spent  much  of  her  life  in  Europe,  where  at  first  her 
beauty,  and  to  the  last  her  wit  and  charming  manner^ 


98        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

secured  her  admission  to  the  most  exclusive  saloons,  and 
a  sort  of  acknowledgment  of  her  claims.  She  never 
saw  her  husband  again,  save  on  one  occasion,  when  she 
came  face  to  face  with  him  in  a  European  picture- 
gallery. 

Madame  Patterson's  aristocratic  prejudices  were  greatly 
shocked  when  her  son  married  a  most  estimable  Ameri- 
can lady,  the  mother's  ambition  seeking  for  him  an 
alliance  among  the  royal  or  at  least  noble  families  of  the 
Old  World.  During  the  reign  of  Napoleon  III,  the 
Pope  recognized  the  first  marriage  of  Jerome  Bonaparte, 
and  the  Emperor,  who  had  taken  offence  at  his  cousin, 
the  son  of  Jerome  by  his  princess  wife,  also  legitimatized 
the  son,  and  took  him  into  his  service.  Madame  Pat- 
terson lived  to  be  nearly  a  hundred  years  old,  having 
spent  her  last  days  in  her  native  city,  and  dying  but  a 
few  years  ago.  Her  son  Jerome  survived  her  not  many 
years,  leaving  two  sons,  who  are  known  as  the  Patterson- 
Bouapartes. 

In  December,  1814,  Baltimore  was  made  the  object 
of  attack  by  the  British  forces,  then  at  war  with  the 
United  States.  On  the  eleventh  of  that  month  the  fleet 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Patapsco,  and  on  the  next  day 
six  thousand  men  landed  at  North  Point,  and  proceeded, 
under  command  of  General  Ross,  toward  the  city.  An 
army  of  over  three  thousand  men  met  them  and  kept 
them  in  check,  in  order  to  gain  time  to  put  the  forts  and 
batteries  of  Baltimore  in  proper  condition  for  defence. 
A  battle  was  fought,  and  the  Americans  defeated,  with 
considerable  loss.  Among  the  killed  and  wounded, 
which  numbered  one  hundred  and  three,  were  many  of 
the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Baltimore.  The  next 
morning  the  British  advanced  to  the  entrenchments 


BALTIMORE.  99 

about  two  miles  from  the  city,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
vigorous  attack  was  made  by  the  fleet,  upon  Fort 
McHenry,  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  The  fort  was 
vigorously  bombarded  during  the  next  twenty-four 
hours,  but  without  visible  effect.  The  troops  which  had 
landed,  after  hovering  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the 
city,  until  the  evening  of  the  thirtieth,  then  retired  to 
their  shipping,  and  set  sail  down  the  river,  leaving 
behind  them  their  commander,  General  Ross,  who  had 
been  killed  in  the  battle  of  the  twelfth.  It  was  during 
the  siege  of  Baltimore,  while  the  British  fleet  lay  off 
Fort  McHenry,  and  the  bombs  were  raining  upon  it, 
that  Philip  Barton  Key  wrote  the  "Star  Spangled 
Banner." 

From  1814  to  1861,  nearly  half  a  century,  Baltimore 
had  nothing  to  do  but  develop  her  resources  and 
extend  her  commerce,  which  she  did  so  well  and  so 
thoroughly,  that  in  1860  her  inhabitants  numbered  more 
than  212,000,  and  she  stood  in  the  front  rank  as  a 
manufacturing  and  commercial  town. 

At  the  inauguration  of  President  Lincoln,  in  1861} 
the  sentiments  of  the  people  assimilated  rather  with  those 
of  Virginia  and  the  South,  than  with  those  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  North.  Had  it  not,  by  its  geographical , 
position,  been  so  completely  in  the  power  of  the  Federal 
government,  Maryland  would  probably  have  seceded 
with  Virginia.  Great  excitement  was  aroused  by  the 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  State  was  with  difficulty 
made  to  retain  her  old  position  in  the  Union.  The  only 
line  of  railway  from  the  north  and  east  to  Washington 
passed  through  Baltimore,  and  when,  on  the  fifteenth  of 
April,  the  President  made  his  call  for  seventy-five  thou- 
sand men,  it  was  necessary  that,  in  reaching  the  seat  of 


100       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

war,  they  should  pass  through  that  city.  Apprehensions 
were  felt  that  they  might  be  disturbed,  but  the  Marshal 
of  Police,  on  the  eighteenth  of  April,  maintained  perfect 
order  in  the  city,  and  summarily  quieted  all  attempts  at 
riot.  He  also  received  from  the  State  Rights  Associa- 
tion a  most  solemn  pledge  that  the  Federal  troops  should 
not  be  interfered  with.  The  Mayor  issued  a  procla- 
mation invoking  all  good  citizens  to  uphold  and  main- 
tain the  peace  and  good  order  of  the  city. 

On  the  nineteenth,  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment, 
the  first  to  respond  to  the  President's  call,  arrived,  by 
the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  Railroad.  A  crowd  of 
two  or  three  thousand  persons  had  gathered  at  the  depot 
early  in  the  day,  to  witness  their  arrival.  Soon  after 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  twenty-nine  cars  arrived 
from  Philadelphia,  filled  with  soldiers.  Horses  were 
attached  to  the  cars,  which  were  driven  along  Pratt 
street  to  the  Camden  station.  The  multitude  hooted  and 
yelled  after  the  first  six  cars,  but  did  not  otherwise 
molest  them.  The  horses  becoming  frightened  by  the 
uproar,  were  detached  from  the  seventh  car,  which  moved 
without  their  aid  nearly  to  Gay  street,  where  a  body  of 
laborers  were  removing  the  cobblestones  from  the  bed 
••of  the  street,  in  order  to  repair  it.  Some  thirty  or  forty 
men  had  followed  the  car  to  this  point,  cheering  for  Pres- 
ident Davis  and  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  apply- 
ing contemptuous  and  insulting  epithets  to  the  troops. 
The  latter  received  these  taunts  in  perfect  silence ;  and 
when  the  horses  were  again  attached,  and  the  car  com- 
menced moving  off,  a  proposition  was  made  to  stone  it. 
Almost  instantly,  acting  on  the  suggestion,  nearly  every 
window  was  smashed  by  projectiles  snatched  from  the 
street.  The  eighth  car  was  treated  in  a  like  manner. 


BALTIMORE.  101 

The  ninth  car  was  suffered  to  pass  unmolested,  as  it  was 
apparently  empty.  When  the  tenth  car  approached, 
after  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  tear  up  the  track,  it  was 
heaped  with  paving  stones,  and  a  cartload  of  sand 
dumped  upon  them,  and  four  or  five  large  anchors, 
dragged  from  the  sidewalk,  completed  the  barricade. 
Progress  was  impossible,  and  the  car  returned  to  th% 
President  Street  Depot.  . 

Two-thirds  of  the  cars  still  remained,  filled  with  troops, 
besides  others  loaded  with  ammunition  and  baggage. 
Mayor  Brown  hastened  to  the  depot,  in  order  to  prevent 
any  disturbance.  The  troops  were  ordered  to  leave  the 
cars  and  form  into  line.  White  forming  they  were  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  mass  of  people,  who  impeded  their 
march,  threw  great  quantities  of  stones,  and  knocked 
down  and  severely  injured  two  soldiers. 

Marching  through  the  city,  from  the  President  Street 
Depot  to  the  Pratt  Street  Bridge,  they  were  pursued  by 
the  excited  crowd,  who  continued  to  throw  stones,  and 
even  fired  muskets  at  them.  When  they  reached  Gay 
street,  where  the  track  had  been  torn  up,  they  were 
again  violently  assaulted  by  a  fresh  mob,  and  a  number 
knocked  down  and  wounded.  At  the  corner  of  South 
and  Pratt  streets  a  man  fired  a  pistol  into  the  ranks  of 
the  military,  when  those  in  the  rear  ranks  immediately 
wheeled  and  fired  upon  their  assailants,  wounding  sev- 
eral. The  guns  of  the  wounded  soldiers  were  seized, 
and  fired  upon  the  ranks,  killing  two  soldiers.  Reach- 
ing Calvert  street,  the  troops  succeeded  in  checking 
their  pursuers  by  a  rapid  fire,  and  were  not  again  seri- 
ously molested  until  they  reached  Howard  street,  where 
still  another  mob' had  assembled. 

•  The  police  did  their  utmost  to  protect  the  troops  from 


102      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

assault,  but  were  pressed  back  by  the  excited  crowd. 
The  soldiers  left  the  Camden  station  about  half-past 
twelve  o'clock,  and  a  body  of  infantry,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  strong,  from  one  of  the  Northern  States, 
which  had  arrived  meantime,  next  attracted  the  malevo- 
lence of  the  crowd.  The  excitement  was  now  intense. 
A  man  displayed  the  flag  of  the  Confederate  States,  and 
a  general  panic  ensued.  As  many  as  twenty  shots  were 
fired,  happily  without  injury  to  any  one,  and  cobble- 
stones fell  like  hail.  At  last  the  soldiers  gained  refuge 
in  the  cars.  Other  troops,  by  order  of  Governor  Hicks, 
were  sent  back  to  the  borders  of  the  State,  and  the  mili- 
tary was  called  out  and  quiet  restored,  by  evening.  Nine 
citizens  of  Baltimore  had  been  killed,  and  many  wounded ; 
while  twenty-five  wounded  Massachusetts  troops  were 
sent  to  the  "Washington  Hospital,  and  their  dead  num- 
bered two. 

Thus  Baltimore  shares  with  Charleston  the  doubtful 
honor  of  being  first  in  the  great  civil  war  which  devas- 
tated the  country  and  sent  desolation  to  many  thousand 
homes,  both  north  and  south.  Charleston  fired  the  first 
gun,  and  Baltimore  shed  the  first  blood. 

During  the  succeeding  night,  a  report  reaching  the 
city  that  more  Northern  troops  were  on  their  way 
southward,  the  bridge  at  Canton,  the  two  bridges  be- 
tween Cockeysville  and  Ashland,  also  the  bridges  over 
Little  Gunpowder  and  Bush  rivers  were  destroyed,  by 
order  of  the  authorities  of  Baltimore.  Upon  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  matter  to  President  Lincoln,  he  ordered 
that  "  no  more  troops  should  be  brought  through  Balti- 
more, if,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  and  without  inter- 
ruption or  opposition,  they  can  be  marched  around 
Baltimore."  The  transmission  of  mails,  and  removal 


BALTIMORE.  103 

of  provisions  from  the  city,  were  suspended,  by  the  order 
of  the  Mayor  and  Board  of  Police.  Four  car-loads  of 
military  stores  and  equipments,  sufficient  to  furnish  a 
thousand  men,  belonging  to  the  Government,  were  thus 
detained.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  month  the  city 
had  the  appearance  of  a  military  camp.  Twenty-five 
thousand  volunteers  had  enlisted,  and  four  hundred 
picked  men  left  the  city  for  the  Relay  House,  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Road,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  and 
protecting  that  point,  in  order  to  cut  off  communications 
with  Washington  by  that  route. 

For  a  week  an  unparalleled  excitement  prevailed  in 
Baltimore,  which  was  succeeded  by  a  counter-revolution, 
when  the  volunteer  militia  were  dismissed,  and  a  large 
number  of  troops  landed  at  Fort  McHenry  and  shipped 
for  Washington,  from  Locust  Point.  On  the  fifth  of 
May  General  Butler  removed  a  portion  of  his  troops  to 
Baltimore,  and  they  were  permitted  to  enter  and  remain 
in  the  city  without  disturbance.  As  they  proceeded  on 
their  way  to  Federal  Hill,  they  were  even  greeted  with 
cheers,  while  ladies  at  windows  and  doors  waved  their 
handkerchiefs  and  applauded.  On  the  sixteenth  of 
May  the  passenger  trains  between  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington resumed  their  regular  trips.  On  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  June,  Marshal  of  Police  Keene  was  arrested 
and  escorted  to  Fort  McHenry,  on  the  charge  of  being 
at  the  head  of  an  unlawful  combination  of  men  organ- 
ized for  resistance  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and 
the  State  of  Maryland.  On  the  first  of  July  the  Com- 
missioners of  Police  were  arrested,  for  having  acted 
unlawfully.  On  the  sixteenth  of  July  General  Dix  was 
put  in  command  of  the  troops  stationed  at  Baltimore, 
and  the  city  thenceforth  remained  tranquil.  At  the  fall 


104       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

elections  a  full  vote  was  cast,  which  resulted  in  the 
Union  candidates  receiving  a  very  large  majority.  At 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  it  appropriated  seven 
thousand  dollars  for  the  relief  of  the  families  of  the 
Massachusetts  troops  killed  and  wounded  at  Baltimore 
on  April  nineteenth. 

On  June  thirtieth,  1863,  Major  General  Schenck,  in 
command  at  Baltimore,  put  that  city  and  Maryland 
under  martial  law.  The  value  of  merchandise  exported 
that  year  from  Baltimore  was  $8,054,112,  and  her 
imports  during  the  same  time  were  $4,098,189,  showing 
that  although  on  the  borderland  of  strife,  her  commerce 
was  in  an  exceedingly  healthy  condition.  During  July 
a  number  of  her  citizens  were  arrested,  on  a  charge  of 
being  disloyal  to  the  government.  On  the  Fourth  of 
July  all  citizens  were  required  by  the  Commander  to 
show  their  colors,  from  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  to  six  o'clock, 
p.  M. ;  an  absence  of  the  national  flag  being  considered 
tantamount  to  a  confession  of  disloyalty.  In  1864  the 
State  adopted  a  new  Constitution,  which  conferred  free- 
dom upon  the  slaves  within  her  borders,  and  in  November 
a  Freedman's  Bureau  was  established  by  Major  General 
Wallace,  having  its  headquarters  at  Baltimore. 

The  following  year  saw  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
Baltimore,  which  had  not  suffered  like  her  sister  cities  at 
the  South,  her  port  being  free  from  blockade,  but  had 
rather  witnessed  increased  prosperity  arising  from  the 
demands  of  the  war,  continued  her  prosperous  career. 
Although  many  violent  disunionists  had  found  their 
homes  within  the  city,  the  popular  sentiment  had  grown 
strongly  in  favor  of  the  North,  and  Baltimore  had  come 
to  see  that  she  had  little  to  lose  and  much  to  gain  by  the 
reestablish  men  t  of  the  Union. 


BALTIMORE. 

The  bitterness  of  the  old  war  times  has  passed  away, 
and,  as  if  to  emphasize  this  fact,  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  was  invited  to  hold  a  reunion  in  Baltimore  in 
September,  1882.  Accepting  the  invitation,  her  citizens 
vied  with  each  other  in  honoring  the  veterans  of  the 
war,  and  made  their  visit  a  regular  ovation.  Of  the 
Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment,  who  had  passed  through 
Baltimore  on  that  fateful  day  in  April,  twenty -one  years 
before,  and  who  suffered  from  the  fury  of  an  ungoverned 
mob,  only  one  member  attended  the  reunion,  Captain 
C.  P.  Lord,  a  resident  of  Vineland,  New  Jersey.  He 
was  lionized  on  every  hand. 

This  Grand  Army  reunion  had  many  pleasant  and 
amusing  features.  Here  men  met  each  other  again  who 
had  last  parted  on  the  battlefield  or  in  a  Southern 
prison.  Here  the  dead  seemed  to  come  to  life,  and  the 
lost  were  found.  Many  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
Confederate  army  were  also  present,  and  it  was  as 
satisfactory  as  curious,  as  more  than  once  happened 
during  this  occasion,  to  have  two  men  meet  and  clasp 
hands  in  a  cordial  greeting,  as  one  of  them  said  to  the 
other,  "  The  last  time  we  met  I  tried  to  put  a  bullet 
hole  through  you  on  a  battlefield  ;"  or,  "  I  took  you 
prisoner  when  I  saw  you  last;"  or,  "This  empty  sleeve, 
or  these  crutches,  I  must  thank  you  for." 

The  gathering  was  one  which  will  long  be  remem- 
bered by  Union  and  Confederate  soldiers,  and  by  the 
citizens  of  Baltimore  as  well.  It  was  the  inauguration 
of  an  era  of  good  feeling  between  the  North  and  the 
South.  All  personal  and  sectional  enmity  had  died  out, 
and  this  gathering  joined  those  who  had  represented,  on 
one  side  the  North  and  on  the  other  the  South,  in  that 
great  intestine  struggle  which  is  now  so  long  past,  and 


106       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  terror  of  which,  thank  God,  is  being  gradually 
obliterated  by  time  from  our  memories,  in  new  fraternal 
bonds,  which  are  a  good  augury  for  the  preservation  of 
our  Union.  When  soldiers  who  suffered  so  much  at 
each  other's  hands,  who  were  stirred  by  all  the  evil 
passions  which  war  develops,  and  who  bore  the  brunt  of 
the  conflict,  offering  all,  if  need  be,  as  a  sacrifice  on 
the  altar  of  the  cause  they  had  espoused,  can  so  forget 
the  past,  and  shaking  hands  over  the  chasm  which 
divided  them,  look  forward  to  a  happy  and  concordant 
future,  surely  civilians  should  be  willing  to  bury  the 
hatred  and  prejudice  which  has  so  embittered  the  past, 
and  live  only  for  a  common  country,  made  of  many  parts 
whose  interests  are  identical. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CHARLESTON. 

First  Visit  to  Charleston. — Jail  Yard. — Bombardment  of  the  City. 
— Roper  Hospital. — Charleston  During  the  War. — Secession  of 

•  South  Carolina. — Attack  and  Surrender  of  Fort  Sumter. — 
Blockade  of  the  Harbor. — Great  Fire  of  1861. — Capitulation  in 
1865. — First  Settlement  of  the  City. — Battles  of  the  Revolution. 
— Nullification  Act. — John  C.  Calhoun. — Population  of  the 
City. — Commerce  and  Manufactures. — Charleston  Harbor. — 
"American  Venice." — Battery. — Streets,  Public  Buildings  and 
Churches. — Scenery  about  Charleston. — Railways  and  Steamship 
Lines. — An  Ancient  Church. — Magnolia  Cemetery. — Drives  near 
the  City. — Charleston  Purified  by  Fire. 

MY  first  introduction  to  the  city  of  Charleston  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  been  under  propitious 
circumstances.  True,  a  retinue  of  troops  conducted 
myself  and  my  companions,  with  military  pomp,  to  our 
quarters  in  the  city.  But  these  quarters,  instead  of 
being  any  one  of  its  fine  hotels,  were  none  other  than 
the  Charleston  Jail  Yard,  for  the  year  was  1864,  and  we 
were  prisoners  of  war. 

After  a  varied  experience  of  prison  life  at  Richmond, 
Danville,  Macon  and  Savannah,  I  had  been  sent,  with  a 
number  of  others,  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  to  be 
placed  under  the  fire  of  our  batteries,  which  were  then 
bombarding  the  city.  We  had  received  more  humane 
treatment  at  Savannah  than  at  any  previous  place  of 
detention ;  therefore  it  was  with  a  sinking  of  the  heart 
that  we  found  ourselves,  when  we  arrived  at  our  destina- 
tion, thrown  into  the  jail  yard  at  Charleston,  which  was 
the  grand  receptacle  of  all  Union  prisoners  in  that  city. 

107 


108       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  jail  was  a  large  octagonal  building,  four  stories 
high,  surmounted  by  a  lofty  tower.  A  workhouse  and  a 
gallows  also  occupied  the  yard.  The  jail  building  was 
for  the  accommodation  of  criminals,  military  prisoners, 
and  Federal  and  Rebel  deserters,  all  of  whom  at  least 
had  the  advantage  of  shelter  from  sun  and  storm.  The 
war  prisoners  were  permitted  the  use  of  the  yard  only, 
which  was  in  the  most  filthy  condition  conceivable, 
having  been  long  used  as  a  prison-pen,  without  receiving 
any  cleaning  or  purification  whatever.  The  only  shelter 
afforded  us  were  the  remnants  of  a  few  tents,  which  had 
been  cut  to  pieces,  more  or  less,  by  former  prisoners,  to 
make  themselves  clothing. 

This  jail  yard  was  in  the  southeastern  portion  of  the 
city,  and  apparently  directly  under  the  fire  of  our 
batteries  on  Morris  Island.  But  though  the  shells  came 
screaming  over  our  heads,  and  proved  a  subject  of 
interest,  discussion,  and  even  mathematical  calculation 
among  the  prisoners,  who  were  thankful  for  anything 
which  should  take  their  minds,  even  momentarily,  from 
the  misery  which  they  endured,  so  carefully  were 
they  aimed,  not  to  do  us  mischief,  that  though  they 
exploded  all  about  us — in  front,  behind,  and  on  either 
side — not  one  of  them  fell  within  the  prison  -enclosure. 
The  scene  at  night  was  of  peculiar  beauty.  These 
messengers  of  death  presented  the  spectacle  of  mag- 
nificent fireworks,  and  every  explosion  sounded  as  the 
voice  of  a  friend  to  us,  assuring  us  that  the  great 
Northern  army  was  still  exerting  itself  to  crush  out  the 
rebellion  and  open  our  prison  doors  and  set  us  free. 

Reaching  Charleston  and  its  jail  yard  September 
twelfth,  1864,  on  the  twenty-ninth  I  was  transferred  to 
the  Roper  Hospital,  having  given  my  parole  that  1 


CHARLESTON.  109 

would  not  attempt  to  escape.  The  quarters  here  were 
so  much  more  comfortable  that  it  was  almost  like  a 
transition  from  hell  to  heaven.  Leaving  behind  me 
the  filthiness  of  the  jail  yard,  and  my  bed  there  on  the 
chill,  bare  ground,  where  I  had  protection  against  neither 
heat  nor  cold,  storm  nor  sunshine,  to  be  permitted  the 
freedom  of  the  beautiful  garden  of  the  hospital,  and  to 
sleep  even  upon  the  hard  floor  of  the  piazza,  were 
luxuries  before  unenjoyed  in  my  experience  of  southern 
prisons.  And  here  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  those  angels 
among  women,  did  what  they  could  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  the  sick,  and  to  add  to  the  comfort  of  us 
all.  Their  ministrations  were  bestowed  indiscriminately 
on  Rebels  and  Federals,  with  a  charity  as  broad  and 
boundless  as  true  religion. 

On  October  fifth  we  were  ordered  to  leave  Charleston, 
and  were  sent,  in  the  foulest  of  cattle  cars,  to  Columbia, 
the  Capital  of  the  State.  We  left  Charleston  without  a 
regret.  It  was  the  breeding  place  of  the  rankest  treason, 
the  cradle  of  the  Rebellion,  and  the  scene  of  untold 
cruelties  to  Union  prisoners.  At  the  time  of  our  brief 
visit  to  the  city,  it  was  undergoing  all  the  horrors  of  an 
actual  siege.  About  one-third  of  its  territory  had  been 
destroyed  by  fire  during  the  early  part  of  the  war, 
caused  by  shells  thrown  from  the  Union  batteries  on 
Morris  Island.  This  portion  of  the  city  was  deserted 
by  all  its  inhabitants  save  the  negroes,  who,  during  every 
brief  cessation  in  the  bombardment,  flocked  in  and  took 
possession,  rent  free,  to  scatter  as  quickly  when  one  or 
more  of  them  had  been  killed  by  the  sudden  appearance 
and  explosion  of  shells  in  this  quarter.  The  balance  of 
the  city  was  forsaken  by  non-combatants,  and  the  block- 
ade had  put  an  end  to  all  her  commerce.  The  quiet 


1 10      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

industries  of  peace  had  given  place  to  all  the  turmoil  of 
war.  Her  streets  were  filled  with  military,  while  the 
boom  of  the  distant  batteries,  the  whiz  of  the  flying 
shells,  and  the  noise  of  their  explosion,  were  daily  and 
familiar  sounds. 

During  the  four  years  of  the  war,  Charleston  was  one 
of  the  chief  points  of  Federal  attack,  though  it  re- 
mained in  possession  of  the  Confederate  forces  until 
the  beginning  of  1865.  These  were  four  terrible  years 
to  the  city.  Yet  her  sufferings  she  had  brought  upon 
herself.  The  first  open  and  public  movement  in  favor 
of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  made  in  that  city. 
South  Carolina  was  the  first  to  call  a  State  convention, 
and  to  secede  from  the  Union.  This  convention  was 
held  at  Columbia,  the  Capital  of  the  State,  but  was 
adjourned  to  Charleston,  where  the  Ordinance  of  Secession 
was  unanimously  passed  on  the  twentieth  of  December, 
1860.  Fort  Sumter,  which  was  one  of  the  largest  forts  in 
Charleston,  a  massive  fortress  of  solid  masonry,  standing 
on  an  island  commanding  the  principal  entrance,  at  the 
mouth  of  Charleston  Harbor,  was  in  command  of  Major 
Robert  Anderson,  with  a  garrison  of  eighty  men.  On  the 
twenty-seventh  of  December  he  ran  up  the  stars  and 
stripes.  Governor  Pickens  immediately  demanded  a 
surrender  of  the  fort,  which  was  promptly  refused. 
Early  on  Friday  morning,  April  twelfth,  1861,  the 
initial  gun  of  the  terrible  four  years'  war  was  fired  by 
the  Rebel  forces  from  the  howitzer  battery  on  James 
Island,  west  of  Sumter.  Fort  Moultrie,  on  Sullivan 
Island,  on  the  northeast,  the  gun  battery  at  Cumming's 
Point,  the  northwest  extremity  of  Morris  Island,  and 
other  batteries  and  fortifications  which  the  Confederates 
had  seized  and  appropriated  to  their  own  use,  all  fol- 


CHARLESTON.  Ill 

lowed  in  a  deadly  rain  of  shells  upon  Sumter.  The 
firing  was  kept  up  for  thirty-five  hours,  and  Sumter 
made  a  vigorous  defence,  until  the  quarters  were  entirely 
burned,  the  main  gates  destroyed  by  fire,  the  supplies 
exhausted,  and  the  magazine  surrounded  by  flames, 
when  Major  Anderson  accepted  the  terms  of  capitulation 
offered  by  General  Beauregard. 

Upon  the  surrender  of  the  Fort,  which  was  received 
as  a  good  omen  by  the  South,  troops  began  to  pour  into 
the  city,  so  that  by  the  sixteenth  of  the  same  month  as 
many  as  ten  thousand  had  arrived.  The  blockade  of 
the  port  was  commenced  on  the  tenth  of  May,  and 
continued  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  the  latter  part 
of  1861  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment to  seal  up  the  channel  of  the  harbor  with  sunken 
ships,  to  prevent  the  egress  of  privateers.  On  the 
twenty-first  of  December  seventeen  vessels  were  sunk, 
in  three  or  four  rows,  across  the  channel.  But  this 
attempt  at  blockade  proved  a  failure.  The  current 
washed  some  of  them  away,  and  many  passages  in  a 
water  front  of  six  miles  were  left  unobserved,  and  more 
vessels  ran  the  blockade  and  reached  the  city,  than  at 
any  other  southern  port. 

On  the  tenth  of  December,  1861,  a  fire  broke  out  in 
the  city,  which  destroyed  nearly  all  its  public  buildings, 
banks  and  insurance  offices,  and  several  churches,  besides 
many  dwellings,  reducing  thousands  to  homelessness 
and  the  extremity  of  want.  The  loss  occasioned  by  this 
conflagration  was  estimated  at  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

In  1863,  the  women,  children  and  other  non-combat- 
tants  were  ordered  out  of  the  city,  and  free  transporta- 
tion, food  and  lodgings  \vere  furnished  those  unable  to 
pay  for  them.  Morris  Island  had  been  captured  by  the 


112      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Federal  Army,  who  used  it  as  a  point  of  attack  against 
Sumter  and  the  city.  Its  shells  had  wrought  destruction 
in  all  parts  of  the  city,  especially  in  its  lower  portions. 
On  February  seventeenth,  1865,  Charleston,  which  had 
withstood  all  attacks  from  the  seaward,  capitulated  to 
the  Union  forces,  Columbia  having  been  captured  by 
Sherman. 

The  history  of  Charleston  goes  back  to  earliest 
colonial  times.  In  1671  a  few  persons  located  them- 
selves on  Ashley  River,  at  Old  Charleston.  But  in  1680 
this  settlement  was  abandoned,  and  the  foundations  of 
the  present  city  laid,  several  miles  nearer  the  sea.  The 
whole  country,  up  to  1671,  between  the  thirtieth  and 
thirty-sixth  parallel  of  latitude,  was  called  Carolina, 
having  received  the  name  in  honor  of  Charles  IX,  of 
France.  In  that  year  the  division  was  made  between  the 
Northern  and  Southern  provinces.  In  1685  the  young 
settlement  received  a  considerable  influx  of  French 
Huguenot  refugees. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
war  of  Queen  Anne  against  France  and  Spain  greatly 
disturbed  the  young  colony;  and  a  little  later  the 
Indians  threatened  its  existence.  All  the  inhabitants 
of  the  region  took  refuge  at  Charleston,  which  was 
vigorously  defended. 

In  1700,  the  same  year  that  Kidd  was  captured  and 
taken  to  England,  no  less  then  seven  pirates  were 
secured,  and  executed  at  Charleston.  Subsequently 
others  shared  the  same  fate. 

South  Carolina  was  among  the  foremost  of  the 
American  colonies  to  strike  for  independence.  On  the 
twenty-eighth  of  June,  1776,  Charleston  was  attacked 
by  the  British,  an  attempt  being  made  to  destroy  the 


CHARLESTON.  113 

military  works  on  Sullivan's  Island.  But  Colonel 
Moultrie,  in  honor  of  whom  the  fort  was  subsequently 
named,  made  a  gallant  defence  and  repulsed  them.  In 
1779  they  made  a  second  attack  upon  the  city,  this  time 
approaching  it  by  land,  but  were  again.compelled  to 
retreat.  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  with  seven  or  eight 
thousand  men,  opened  his  batteries  upon  Charleston  on 
the  second  of  April,  1780.  Fort  Moultrie,  on  Sullivan's 
Island,  was  compelled  to  surrender  on  the  fourteenth, 
and  the  city  yielded  on  May  eleventh.  The  British 
retained  possession  of  the  city  until  the  close  of  the 
war. 

Charleston  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  passage  of 
the  nullification  act  by  the  State,  which  maintained  that 
any  one  of  the  States  might  set  aside  or  nullify  any 
act  of  Congress  which  it  deemed  unconstitutional  or 
oppressive.  The  occasion  of  this  nullification  act  was 
the  Tariff  Laws  of  1828,  which  were  not  considered 
favorable  to  the  Southern  States.  A  convention  of  the 
State  declared  them  null  and  void,  and  made  prepara- 
tions to  resist  their  execution.  John  C.  Calhoun,  who 
was  at  that  time  Vice-President  under  Andrew  Jackson, 
resigned  his  office,  became  a  leader  in  the  nullification 
movement,  and  was  the  father  of  the  doctrine  of  Slate 
Sovereignty,  the  legitimate  outcome  of  the  principles 
of  which  was  the  late  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union. 

The  population  of  Charleston  in  1800  was  18,711; 
in  1850,  42,985  inhabitants;  in  1860,  40,519;  in  1870, 
48,956;  and  in  1880,  50,000  inhabitants.  It  has  not 
made  so  rapid  a  growth  as  other  cities,  even  in  the  South, 
but  is,  nevertheless,  a  prosperous  town,  with  large  com- 
mercial, and  since  the  war,  large  manufacturing  interests. 
It  is  one  of  the  chief  shipping  ports  for  cotton,  and  also 


1 14      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

exports  rice,  lumber,  naval  stores  and  fertilizers.  Immense 
beds  of  marl  were  discovered  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city 
in  1868,  and  now  the  manufacture  of  fertilizers  from 
marl  and  phosphate  is  one  of  its  principal  industries. 
There  are  also  flour  and  rice  mills,  carriage  and  wagon 
factories  and  machine  shops.  The  city  is  learning  that 
the  surest  foundation  stone  for  its  future  prosperity  is 
its  manufacturing  interests;  and,  probably,  the  political 
battle  of  1861,  could  it  be  fought  over  again  to-day,  in 
that  city,  would  find  the  nullifiers  largely  in  the 
minority.  The  city  which  was  so  marred  and  blemished 
during  its  long  state  of  siege,  has  been  rebuilt,  and  all 
traces  of  the  fratricidal  conflict  removed;  and  though 
Charleston  would  not  be  true  to  her  traditions  if  she  did 
not  still  cherish  a  strong  Southern  sentiment,  the  years 
which  have  passed  since  the  cessation  of  hostilities  have 
done  much  toward  softening  the  asperities  of  feeling 
on  both  sides. 

As  a  seaboard  city,  Charleston  is  most  favorably 
situated.  It  has  an  excellent  harbor,  seven  miles  in 
length,  with  an  average  width  of  two  miles,  landlocked 
on  all  sides,  except  an  entrance  about  a  mile  in  width. 
This  entrance  is;  blocked  by  a  bar,  which,  however, 
serves  both  as  a  bulwark  and  a  breakwater.  Of  its  two 
passages,  its  best  gives  twenty-two  feet  in  depth  at  flood 
tide,  and  sixteen  feet  at  ebb. 

The  harbor  of  Charleston  is  impregnable,  as  the 
Union  troops  learned  to  their  cost  during  the  late  war. 
Standing  directly  in  the  channel  are  forts  Ripley  and 
Sumter.  On  a  point  extending  out  into  the  strait, 
between  the  two,  is  Fort  Johnson.  Directly  in  front  of 
the  city,  one  mile  distant  from  it,  is  Castle  Pinekney, 
covering  the  crest  of  a  mud  shoal,  and  facing  the 


CHARLESTON.  115 

entrance.  Sullivan's  Island,  a  long,  low,  gray  stretch  of 
an  island,  dotted  here  and  there  by  clumps  of  palmettoes, 
lies  on  the  north  of  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  with 
Fort  Moultrie  on  its  extreme  southern  point,  as  a  door- 
keeper to  the  harbor.  On  the  southern  side  is  Morris 
Island,  long,  low  and  gray  also,  with  tufts  of  pin«s 
instead  of  palmettoes,  and  with  batteries  at  intervals 
along  its  whole  sea  front,  Fort  Wagner  standing  near 
its  northern  end.  Sullivan's  Island,  the  scene  of  fierce 
conflict  during  the  Revolution,  and  later,  during  the 
Rebellion,  is  to-day  the  Long  Branch  or  Coney  Island  of 
South  Carolina,  containing  many  beautiful  cottages  and 
fine  drives,  and  furnishing  good  sea  bathing.  The 
village  occupies  the  point  extending  into  the  harbor. 

As  one  approaches  Charleston  from  the  sea,  the 
name  which  has  been  applied  to  it,  of  the  "  American 
Venice,"  seems  not  inappropriate.  The  shores  are  low, 
and  the  city  seems  to  rise  out  of  the  water.  It  is  built 
something  after  the  manner  of  New  York,  on  a  long 
and  narrow  peninsula,  formed  by  the  Cooper  and 
Ashley  rivers,  which  unite  in  front  of  the  city. 
It  has,  like  New  York,  its  Battery,  occupying  the 
extreme  point  of  the  peninsula,  its  outlook  command- 
ing the  entire  harbor,  bristling  with  fortifications,  so 
harmless  in  time  of  peace,  so  terrible  in  war.  The 
Battery  contains  plots  of  thin  clover,  neatly  fenced  and 
shelled  promenades,  a  long,  solid  stone  quay,  which 
forms  the  finest  sea- walk  in  the  United  States,  and  has 
a  background  of  the  finest  residences  in  the  city,  three 
storied,  and  faced  with  verandahs.  The  dwelling- 
houses  throughout  the  city  are  mostly  of  brick  or  wood, 
and  have  large  open  grounds  around  them,  ornamented 
with  trees,  shrubbery,  vines  and  flowers.  The  city  is 


116      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

laid  out  with  tolerable  regularity,  the  streets  generally 
crossing  each  other  at  right  angles.  King  street,  run- 
ning north  and  south,  is  the  fashionable  promenade, 
containing  the  leading  retail  stores.  Meeting  street, 
nearly  parallel  with  King,  contains  the  jobbing  and 
wholesale  stores.  Broad  street,  the  banks,  brokers'  and 
insurance  offices.  Meeting  street,  below  Broad,  Rutledge 
street,  and  the  west  end  of  Went  worth  street,  contain 
fine  private  residences. 

The  City  Hall,  an  imposing  building,  standing  in  an 
open  square,  the  Court  House,  the  Police  Headquarters, 
and  the  venerable  St.  Michael's  Church  (Episcopal),  all 
stand  at«the  intersection  of  Broad  and  Meeting  streets. 
St.  Michael's  was  built  in  1752,  after  designs  by  a  pupil 
of  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  The  view  from  the  belfry  is 
very  fine,  embracing  the  far  stretch  of  sea  and  shore,  the 
shipping,  fortresses  of  the  harbor,  and  near  at  hand 
buildings  as  ancient  as  the  church  itself.  It  is  the 
church  of  the  poem — a  favorite  with  elocutionists — 
"  How  he  saved  St.  Michael."  Says  the  poem,  in  one  of 
its  stanzas,  its  spire  rose 

"High  over  the  lesser  steeples,  tipped  with  a  golden  ball 
That  hung  like  a  radiant  planet  caught  in  its  earthward  fall, 
First  glimpse  of  home  to  the  sailor  who  made  the  harbor  round, 
And  last  slow  fading  vision,  dear,  to  the  outward  bound." 

Next  in  interest  among  the  churches  of  Charleston  is 
St.  Philip's  Episcopal  Church,  in  Church  street,  near 
Queen.  The  building  itself  is  not  so  venerable  as  St. 
Michael's,  though  its  church  establishment  is  older. 
The  view  from  the  steeple  is  fine;  but  its  chief  interest 
centres  in  the  churchyard,  where  lie  some  of  South 
Carolina's  most  illustrious  dead.  In  one  portion  of  the 
churchyard  is  the  tomb  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  consisting 


CHARLESTON.  117 

of  a  plain  granite  slab,  supported  by  brick  walls,  and 
bearing  the  simple  inscription  "  Calhoun."  The  ruins 
of  St.  Finbar's  Cathedral  (Roman  Catholic)  stand  at 
the  corner  of  Broad  and  Friend  streets.  The  building, 
which  was  one  of  the  costliest  edifices  of  Charleston, 
was  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  1861,  and  the  walls, 
turrets  and  niches  still  standing  are  exceedingly 
picturesque.  Other  handsome  church  edifices  abound. 
The  old  Huguenot  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Queen  streets  has  its  walls  lined  with  quaint  and  elegant 
mural  entablatures. 

The  Post  Office,  at  the  foot  of  Broad  street,  is  a 
venerable  structure,  dating  back  to  the  colonial  period, 
the  original  material  for  its  construction  having  being 
brought  from  England  in  1761.  It  received  considerable 
damage  during  the  war,  but  has  since  been  renovated. 

The  new  United  States  Custom  House,  which,  when 
completed,  will  be  the  finest  edifice  in  the  city,  is  of 
white  marble,  in  the  Roman  Corinthian  style,  and 
is  situated  south  of  the  market  wharf,  on  Cooper 
River. 

The  old  Orphan  House  of  Charleston  is  one  of  the 
most  famous  institutions  in  the  country.  It  stands  in 
spacious  grounds  between  Calhoun  and  Vanderbu.ist 
streets,  and  a  statue  of  William  Pitt,  erected  during 
the  Revolution,  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  grounds. 
John  Charles  Fremont,  the  conqueror  of  California,  and 
once  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  and  C.  C.  Mem- 
minger,  Secretary'  of  the  Treasury  of  the  Confederate 
States,  were  both  educated  here.  The  Charleston 
Library,  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Church  streets, 
founded  in  1748,  and  the  College  of  Charleston,  located 
in  the  square  bounded  by  George,  Green,  College  and  St. 


118        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Philip  streets,  and  founded  in  1788,  are  both  spacious 
and  commodious  buildings. 

One  of  the  most  characteristic  sights  of  Charleston  is 
to  be  seen  between  six  and  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
in  and  about  market  Hall,  in  Meeting  street,  near  the 
Bay.  The  Hall  is  a  fine  building  in  temple  form,  with 
a  lofty  portico  in  front,  and  a  row  of  long,  low  sheds  in 
the  rear. 

There  is  nothing  picturesque  in  the  country  around 
about  Charleston.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  low,  flat  and 
uninteresting.  Looking  across  the  Ashley  River,  which 
is  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide  here,  there  is  on 
the  opposite  side  a  long,  low  line  of  nearly  dead  level, 
with  occasional  sparse  pine  forests,  interspersed  with 
fields  of  open  sand.  There  are  no  palmettoes,  but  here 
and  there  are  gigantic  oaks,  hung  with  pendants  of  gray 
Spanish  moss,  and  occasional  green  spikes  of  the  Spanish 
bayonet.  The  view  across  the  Cooper  is  very  similar. 
Large  extents  of  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  Charles- 
ton, especially  that  lying  along  the  streams,  and  stretch- 
ing for  many  miles  inland,  are  low  and  swampy.  The 
region  is  sparsely  settled,  and  furnishes  no  thriving 
agricultural  or  manufacturing  population,  which,  seeking 
a  market  or  a  port  for  their  products,  and  wanting 
supplies  in  return,  helps  to  build  up  the  city.  Several 
railways  connecting  with  the  North,  West  and  South 
centre  here;  and  she  is  also  connected,  by  means  of 
steamship  lines,  with  the  principal  Atlantic  seaports 
and  some  European  ones.  She  is  also  the  centre  of  a 
great  lumber  region,  and  annually  exports  many  million 
feet  of  lumber. 

There  are  few  points  of  interest  about  the  city.     Be- 
sides Sullivan's  Island,  Mount  Pleasant,  on  the  northern. 


CHARLESTON.  119 

shore  of  the  harbor,  so  named,  probably,  because  the  land 
is  sufficiently  high  to  escape  being  a  swamp,  is  a  favorite 
picnic  resort.  The  antiquarian  will  find  interest  in  the 
old  Church  of  St.  James,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Charleston,  on  Goose  Creek.  It  is  secluded  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  pine  forest,  entirely  isolated  from  habita- 
tions, and  is  approached  by  a  road  scarcely  more  than  a 
bridle-path.  The  church  .was  built  in  1711,  and  the 
royal  arms  of  England,  which  are  emblazoned  over  the 
pulpit,  saved  it  from  destruction  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  On  the  walls  and  altars  are  tablets  in 
memory  of  the  early  members  of  the  organization,  one 
dated  1711,  and  another  1717.  The  pews  are  square 
and  high,  the  pulpit  or  reading  desk  exceedingly  small, 
and  the  floor  is  of  stone.  On  the  other  side  of  the  road, 
a  short  distance  from  this  church,  is  a  farm  known  as 
The  Oaks,  approached  by  a  magnificent  avenue,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  length,  of  those  trees,  believed  to  be  nearly 
two  hundred  years  old.  They  are  exceedingly  large,  and 
form  a  continuous  archway  over  the  road,  their  branches 
festooned  with  long  fringes  of  gray  moss,  which  softens 
and  conceals  the  ravages  of  age.  • 

Magnolia  Cemetery  lies  just  outside  the  city,  on  its 
northern  boundary.  It  is  beautified  by  live  oaks  and 
magnolias,  and  contains,  among  other  fine  monuments, 
those  of  Colonel  William  Washington,  of  Revolutionary 
fame,  Hugh  Legare1  and  Dr.  Gilmore  Simms,  the 
novelist.  The  roads  leading  out  of  the  city  by  the 
Cooper  and  Ashley  rivers  afford  attractive  drives. 
What  the  scenery  lacks  in  grandeur  and  picturesqueness 
is  made  up  in  beauty  by  the  abundance  of  lovely  foliage, 
composed  of  pines,  oaks,  magnolias,  myrtles  and  jasmines, 
exhibiting  a  tropical  luxuriance. 


120      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  April,  1838,  Charleston  was 
visited  by  a  fire  which  proved  exceedingly  disastrous. 
Nearly  one-half  the  city  was  swept  by  the  flames,  which 
raged  for  twenty-eight  hours,  and  were  finally  averted 
only  by  the  blowing  up  of  buildings  in  their  path. 
.There  were  1158  buildings  destroyed,  involving  a  loss 
of  three  millions  of  dollars.  The  most  shocking  feature 
of  the  catastrophe  was  that,  in  the  carelessness  of  handling 
the  gunpowder  in  blowing  up  these  buildings,  four  of 
the  most  prominent  citizens  were  killed,  and  several 
others  injured.  The  fire  of  1861  exceeded  this  in  de- 
structiveness,  and  to  it  were  added  the  terrific  effects  of 
a  four  years'  besiegement.  So  that  it  can  be  truly  said 
that  Charleston  has  been  purified  by  fire.  She  is  to-day 
fully  recovered  from  the  effects,  and  as  prosperous  as 
her  geographical  position  will  permit. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CINCINNATI. 

Founding  of  Cincinnati. — Rapid  Increase  of  Population. — Char- 
acter of  its  Early  Settlers. — Pro-slavery  Sympathies. — During 
the  Rebellion. — Description  of  the  City. — Smoke  and  Soot. — • 
Suburbs.  —  "Fifth  Avenue"  of  Cincinnati.  —  Streets,  Publift 
Buildings,  Private  Art  Galleries,  Hotels,  Churches  and  Educa- 
tional Institutions. — "Over  the  Rhine." — Hebrew  Population. 
— Liberal  Religious  Sentiment. — Commerce  and  Manufacturing 
Interests. — Stock  Yards  and  Pork-packing  Establishments. — • 
Wine  Making. — Covington  and  Newport  Suspension  Bridge.— 
High  Water. — Spring  Grove  Cemetery. 

/CINCINNATI,  whether  we  consider  what  its  past 
\_J  history  has  been,  or  whether  we  regard  it  as  it  is 
to-day,  is  probably  the  most  matter-of-fact  and  prosaic 
of  all  our  western  cities.  A  generation  ago  it  derived  its 
chief  importance  from  the  pork-packing  business,  in 
which,  though  it  once  stood  at  the  head,  it  is  now  com- 
pletely distanced  by  Chicago.  Its  extensive  factories  and 
foundries  give  it  material  wealth,  while  its  geographical 
situation  guarantees  its  commercial  importance.  Unlike 
most  of  the  towns  and  cities  of  this  western  world,  no 
interesting  historical  associations  cling  around  its  site. 
The  Indians  seem  to  have  been  troublesome  and 
treacherous  here,  as  elsewhere;  but  the  records  tell  no 
stories  of  famous  wars,  terrible  massacres,  or  hair- 
breadth escapes.  In  all  the  uninteresting  accumulation 
of  dry  facts  and  statistics  regarding  the  founding  and 
subsequent  growth  of  the  city,  there  is  just  one  excep- 
tional romance. 

121 


122      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

In  early  times  three  settlements  were  made  along 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio  River,  on  what  is  now  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  first 
was  at  Columbia,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami 
River,  in  November,  1788,  on  ten  thousand  acres, 
purchased  by  Major  Benjamin  Stites,  from  Judge 
Symmes.  The  second  settlement  was  commenced  but 
a  month  later,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio  River, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  Matthias 
Denman,  of  New  Jersey,  being  the  leading  spirit  in  the 
new  undertaking,  he  having  purchased  about  eight 
hundred  acres,  also  from  Judge  Symmes,  for  an  equiva- 
lent of  fifteen  pence  an  acre.  Judge  Symmes  himself 
directed  the  third  settlement,  which  was  founded  in 
February,  1789,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  North  Bend, 
from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  most  northern  bend  of  the 
Ohio  River,  below  the  mouth  of  the  great  Kanawha. 

A  spirit  of  rivalry  existed  between  these  three  settle- 
ments, which  lay  but  a  few  miles  apart.  Each  one 
regarded  itself  as  the  future  great  city  of  the  west.  In 
the  beginning,  Columbia  took  the  lead;  but  North 
Bend  presently  gained  the  advantage,  as  the  troops 
detailed  by  General  Harmer  for  the  protection  of  the 
settlers  in  the  Miami  Valley  landed  there,  through  the 
influence  of  Judge  Symmes.  This  detachment  soon 
took  its  departure  for  Louisville,  and  was  succeeded  by 
another,  under  Ensign  Luce,  who  was  at  liberty  to 
select  the  spot,  for  the  erection  of  a  substantial  block- 
house, which  seemed  to  him  best  calculated  to  afford 
protection  to  the  Miami  settlers.  He  put  up  temporary 
quarters  at  North  Bend,  sufficient  for  the  security  of  his 
troops,  and  began  to  look  for  a  suitable  site  on  which 
to  build  the  block-house.  While  he  was  leisurely 


CINCINNATI.  123 

pursuing  this  occupation,  he  was  attracted  by  a  pair  of 
beautiful  black  eyes,  whose  owner  was  apparently  not 
indifferent  to  his  attentions.  This  woman  was  the  wife 
of  one  of  the  settlers  at  the  Bend,  who,  when  he  per- 
ceived the  condition  of  affairs,  thought  best  to  remove 
her  out  of  danger,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  take  up  his 
residence  at  Cincinnati.  The  gallant  commander,  still 
ostensibly  engaged  in  locating  his  block-house,  felt 
immediately  impelled  to  go  to  Cincinnati,  on  a  tour 
of  inspection.  He  was  forcibly  struck  by  the  superior 
advantages  offered  by  that  town,  over  all  other  points 
on  the  river,  for  a  military  station.  In  spite  of 
remonstrance  from  the  Judge,  the  troops  were,  accord- 
ingly, removed,  and  the  erection  of  a  block-house 
commenced  at  once.  The  settlers  at  the  Bend,  who  at 
that  time  outnumbered  those  of  the  more  favored  place, 
finding  their  protection  gone,  gave  up  their  land  and 
followed  the  soldiers,  and  ere  long  the  town  was  almost 
deserted.  In  the  course  of  the  ensuing  summer,  Major 
Doughty  arrived  at  Cincinnati,  with  troops  from 
Fort  Harmer,  and  established  Fort  Washington,  which 
was  made  the  most  important  and  extensive  military 
station  in  the  northwest  territory.  North  Bend  still 
continued  its  existence  as  a  town,  and  was  finally 
honored  by  becoming  the  home  of  General  Wrn.  H. 
Harrison,  ninth  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
there  still  rest  his  mortal  remains.  Farms  now  occupy 
the  place  where  Columbia  once  stood. 

The  unsettled  condition  of  the  frontier  prevented 
Cincinnati  from  making  a  rapid  growth  in  its  early 
years.  In  1800,  twelve  years  after  the  first  colonist 
landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Ohio  opposite  the  Licking 
River,  there  were  but  750  inhabitants.  In  1814  the 


124      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

town  was  incorporated  as  a  city.  In  1820  its  inhabitants 
numbered  9,602,  and  in  1830,  16,230.  About  this 
time  the  Miami  Canal  was  built,  running  through  the 
western  portion  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  and  connecting 
Cincinnati  with  Lake  Erie  at  Toledo.  This  gave  an 
impetus  to  trade,  and  during  the  next  ten  years  the 
population  increased  nearly  three  hundred  per  cent., 
numbering  in  1840,  46,382  inhabitants.  In  1850  it 
had  again  more  than  doubled,  amounting  to  115,436. 
In  1860  the  number  was  161,044;  in  1870,216,239; 
while  according  to  the  United  States  census  returns  of 
1880  the  population  in  that  year  was  255,708. 

The  career  of  Cincinnati  will  not  compare  in  brilliancy 
with  that  of  Chicago.  It  has  not  displayed  the  same 
energy  and  activity.  Outwardly,  it  has  not  made  the 
most  of  its  superior  natural  advantages ,  and  intellectu- 
ally, although  it  boasts  some  of  the  most  readable  and 
successful  newspapers  in  the  country,  it  has  fallen 
behind  other  cities.  Settled  originally  by  emigrants 
from  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  descendants  of 
Germans,  Swedes  and  Danes,  its  inhabitants  were 
plodders  rather  than  pushers.  They  lacked  the  practical 
and  mental  activity  of  New  Englanders  and  New 
Yorkers.  By  habits  of  industry  and  economy  they 
were  sure  to  accumulate  wealth ;  but  they  cared  little 
for  outward  display,  and  less  for  educational  and 
intellectual  advancement.  The  churches  met  better 
support  than  the  schools,  "  book  learning "  being  held 
in  small  estimation  by  this  stolid  yet  thrifty  race.  They 
patterned  their  city  after  Philadelphia,  the  most 
magnificent  city  their  eyes  had  ever  beheld,  and 
anything  more  splendid  than  which  their  imaginations 
were  powerless  to  depict ;  called  their  streets  Walnut, 


CINCINNATI.  125 

Spruce  and  Vine,  and1  felt  that  they  should  be  com- 
mended for  having  built  them  up  with  a  view  to  sub- 
stantiality rather  than  to  display. 

Yankee  capital  and  enterprise,  in  the  course  of  time, 
found  their  way  to  Cincinnati,  to  build  up  its  factories 
and  stimulate  public  improvements.  But,  on  the  line 
between  freedom  and  slavery,  its  population  largely 
southern  by  immigration  or  descent,  and  by  sympathy, 
Cincinnati  up  to  the  time  of  the  war  was  more  a 
southern  than  a  northern  city.  Her  leading  families 
were  connected  by  marriage  with  Kentucky,  Virginia 
and  Maryland ;  many  of  her  leading  men  had  immigrated 
from  those  States;  and  her  aristocracy  scorned  the 
northern  element  which  had  helped  to  build  up  the 
city,  and  repudiated  all  its  tendencies. 

Public  sentiment  had  been,  from  its  earliest  history, 
intensely  pro-slavery.  In  1836  a  mob  broke  into  and 
destroyed  the  office  of  the  Philanthropist,,  an  anti- 
slavery  paper,  published  by  James  G.  Birney,  scattered 
the  type,  and  threw  the  press  into  the  river,  having 
previously  resolved  that  no  "  abolition  paper "  should 
be  either  "published  or  distributed "  in  the  town.  In 
1841  the  office  of  the  same  paper  was  again  raided  and 
destroyed,  and  a  frenzied  mob,  numbering  at  one  time 
as  many  as  fifteen  hundred  men,  engaged  in  a  riot 
against  the  negro  residents  in  the  city,  until,  to  secure 
their  safety,  it  was  found  necessary  to  incarcerate  the 
latter,  to  the  number  of  250  to  300,  in<  the  county  jail. 
Houses  were  broken  into  and  furniture  destroyed, 
several  persons  killed,  and  twenty  or  thirty  more  or 
less  seriously  wounded.  Yet  at  this  very  period, 
Salmon  Portland  Chase,  the  future  statesman  and  finan- 
cier, but  then  an  obscure  young  lawyer,  was  living  in 


126       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Cincinnati,  and  was  already  planning  the  beginnings  of 
that  Liberty  party  which,  after  many  vicissitudes,  and 
under  a  different  name,  finally  accomplished  the  abolition 
of  slavery ;  and  in  this  same  city,  but  ten  years  later,  Mrs. 
Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  wrote  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." 

When  the  war  began,  Cincinnati  found  itself  in  an 
anomalous  position.  Geographically  it  was  on  the  side 
of  the  north,  while  to  a  large  extent  its  social  and 
business  relations  allied  it  with  the  south.  Many  of  the 
leading  families  furnished  adherents  to  the  southern 
cause;  but  the  masses  of  the  people,  notably  the 
Germans,  who  had  already  become  an  important  factor 
in  its  population,  were  stirred  by  the  spirit  of 
patriotism,  and  casting  aside  once  for  all  their  conserva- 
tism, they  identified  themselves  with  the  cause  of  the 
Union.  Trade  was  greatly  disturbed.  The  old 
profitable  relations  with  the  south  were  broken  up  for 
the  time  being,  but  Cincinnati  did  not  find  herself  a 
loser.  Army  contractors  made  fortunes,  and  the  business 
of  supplying  gunboats,  military  stores  and  provisions  to 
the  army  gave  employment  to  immense  numbers,  and 
stimulated  all  branches  of  trade.  From  this  period 
Cincinnati  dates  her  new  life.  Heretofore  she  had 
stagnated  in  all  but  a  business  sense.  With  the  steady 
increase  of  her  population  came  a  new  element. 
Southern  supineness  and  Middle  State  stolidity  were 
aroused  and  shaken  out  of  themselves,  when  slavery  no 
longer  exerted  its  baleful  influence  over  the  country 
and  the  city.  Fresh  life  was  infused  into  her  people, 
and  the  war  marked  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  for  the  city, 
an  era  in  which  public  spirit  took  a  prominent  place. 

The  name,  Cincinnati,  was  bestowed  upon  the  city  at 
its  foundation,  as  tradition  has  it,  by  General  St.  Clair, 


CINCINNATI.  127 

who  called  it  after  the  society  of  that  name,  of  which 
himself  and  General  Hamilton  were  both  members. 
The  county  was  subsequently  named  in  honor  of  General 
Hamilton.  The  young  town  barely  escaped  the  name 
of  Losantiville,  a  word  of  original  etymology,  com- 
pounded by  a  pedantic  schoolmaster,  who,  wishing  to 
indicate  the  position  of  the  future  city  as  opposite  the 
mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  united  os,  mouth,  anti, 
against  or  opposite  to,  and  ville,  as  meaning  city, 
prefacing  the  whole  with  L,  the  initial  letter  of  Licking ; 
hence  "  Losantiville."  But  the  name,  although  accepted 
for  several  months,  was  not. permanently  adopted. 

Cincinnati  is  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  great  valley 
of  the  Ohio,  being  only  fifty-eight  miles  nearer  Cairo, 
at  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  than  to  its  head 
waters  at  Pittsburg.  It  occupies  the  half  circle  formed 
by  an  outward  curve  of  the  river,  which  bends  continu- 
ally in  one  direction  or  another.  The  plateau  upon 
which  the  business  part  of  the  city  is  built  is  sixty  feet 
above  the  low-water  mark  of  the  river.  Back  of  this  is 
a  terrace  some  fifty  feet  higher  yet,  graded  to  an  easy 
slope,  the  whole  shut  in  by  an  amphitheatre  of  what 
appears  to  be  hills,  though  when  one  mounts  to  their 
summits  he  finds  himself-on  an  undulating  table-land, 
four  or  five  hundred  feet  above  the  river,  which  extends 
backward  into  the  country.  The  river  flows  through 
a  wide  and  deep  ravine,  which  the  raging  floods  have, 
in  the  long  ages  since  they  began  their  course,  cut  for 
themselves,  through  an  elevated  region  of  country.  In 
the  remote  west  these  ravines,  chiseled  through  the  solid 
rocks,  are  bordered  by  steep  precipices ;  on  the  Ohio 
the  yielding  soil  has  been  washed  away  in  a  gradual 
slope,  leaving  the  graceful  outlines  of  hills. 


1 28      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  city  proper  is  occupied  by  stores,  offices,  public 
buildings,  factories,  foundries,  and  the  dwelling  houses 
of  the  poorer  and  middle  classes,  over  all  which  hangs  a 
pall  of  smoke,  caused  by  the  bituminous  coal  used  as  fuel 
in  the  city.  Cleanliness  in  either  person  or  in  dress  is 
almost  an  impossibility.  Hands  and  faces  become  grimy, 
and  clean  collars  and  light-hued  garments  are  percepti- 
bly coated  with  a  thin  layer  of  soot.  Clothes  hung  out 
in  the  weekly  wash  acquire  a  permanent  yellow  hue 
which  no  bleaching  can  remove.  The  smoke  of  hundreds 
of  factories,  locomotives  and  steamboats  arises  and  unites 
to  form  this  dismal  pall,  which  obscures  the  sunlight, 
and  gives  a  sickly  cast  to  the  moonbeams. 

But  beyond  the  city,  on  the  magnificent  amphitheatre 
of  hills  which  encircle  it,  are  half  a  dozen  beautiful  sub- 
urbs, where  the  homes  of  Cincinnati's  merchant  princes 
and  millionaires  are  found,  as  elegant  as  wealth  combined 
with  art  can  make  them,  surrounded  by  enchanting 
scenery,  and  commanding  extensive  views  over  the  city  and 
surrounding  country.  Cincinnati  has  no  Fifth  Avenue 
like  New  York,  but  it  has  its  Mount  Auburn,  its  Walnut 
Hills,  its  Price's  Hill,  its  Clifton  and  its  Avondale, 
which  are  as  much  superior  to  Fifth  Avenue  as  the 
country  is  superior  to  the  city,  and  as  space  is  preferable 
to  narrowness.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  on  these 
billowed  outlines  of  hills  and  valleys,  elegant  cottages, 
tasteful  villas,  and  substantial  mansions,  surrounded  by 
a  paradise  of  grass,  gardens,  lawns,  and  tree-shaded 
roads,  are  clustered.  Each  little  suburb  has  its  own 
corporation,  and  its  own  municipal  government,  while 
even  its  mayor  and  aldermen  may  do  daily  business  in 
the  large  city  below  it. 

lu  the  city  itself  Pearl  street  is  noted  for  its  Avholesale 


CINCINNATI.  129 

trade,  and  for  the  uniform  elegance  of  its  buildings. 
Third  street,  between  Main  and  Vine,  contains  the 
banking,  brokering,  and  insurance  offices.  Fourth  street 
is  the  fashionable  promenade  and  business  street.  Free- 
man street,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lincoln  Park,  is  also 
a  favorite  promenade.  Both  the  East  and  West  Ends 
contain  many  fine  residences.  Along  Front  street,  at 
the  foot  of  Main,  is  the  public  landing,  an  open  space  one 
thousand  feet  long  and  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet 
wide.  The  city  has  a  frontage  of  ten  miles  on  the  river, 
and  extends  back  three  miles. 

The  United  States  Government  building,  occupying 
the  square  bounded  by  Main  and  Walnut,  and  Fifth  and 
Sixth  streets,  and  accommodating  the  Custom  House, 
Post  Office,  and  United  States  Courts;  the  County  Court 
House,  in  Main  street,  near  Canal  street;  the  City  build- 
ings occupying  an  entire  square  on  Plum  street,  between 
Eighth  and  Ninth ;  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  on 
Fourth  street  between  Main  and  Walnut ;  and  the 
Masonic  Temple,  at  the  corner  of  Third  and  Walnut 
streets,  are  among  the  most  imposing  buildings  of  the 
city.  The  Exposition  buildings,  in  Elm  street,  fronting 
Washington  Park,  cover  three  and  one-half  acres  of 
ground,  and  have  seven  acres  of  space  for  exhibiting. 
The  Exhibition  opens  annually,  during  the  first  week 
in  September,  and  closes  the  first  week  in  October.  The 
Springer  Music  Hall  will  seat  5,000  persons,  and  contains 
one  of  the  largest  organs  in  the  world,  having  more 
pipes,  but  fewer  speaking  stops,  than  the  famous  Boston 
organ.  Pike's  Opera  House,  in  Fourth  street,  between 
Vine  and  Walnut,  is  a  very  handsome  building.  Cin- 
cinnati is  noted  for  its  appreciation  and  encouragement 
of  fine  music.  The  Emery  Arcade,  said  to  be  the  largest 


130      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

in  the  world,  extends  from  Vine  to  Race  street,  between 
Fourth  and  Fifth.  The  roof  is  of  glass,  and  in  it  are 
shops  of  various  kinds,  and  the  Hotel  Emery. 

The  late  Henry  Probasco,  on  Clinton  Heights,  and 
Joseph  Longworth,  on  Walnut  Hills,  each  had  very  fine 
private  art  galleries,  to  which  visitors  were  courteously 
admitted,  and  the  city  itself  occupies  a  high  standard  in 
art  matters.  The  Tyler-Davidson  fountain,  in  Fifth 
street,  between  Vine  and  Walnut,  the  gift  of  Mr. 
Probasco,  exhibits  a  series  of  basins,  one  above  another, 
the  shaft  ornamented  by  figures,  and  the  whole  sur- 
mounted by  a  gigantic  female  figure,  from  whose  out- 
stretched hands  the  water  rains  down  in  fine  spray. 
The  fountain  was  cast  in  Munich,  and  cost  nearly 
$200,000. 

The  Burnet  House  has  been,  for  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  the  principal  hotel  in  Cincinnati.  The 
Grand  Hotel  is  newer  and  more  elegant.  The  Gibson 
House  is  large  and  centrally  located.  There  are  various 
opera  houses,  theatres,  variety  and  concert  halls,  a 
gymnasium,  a  Floating  Bath,  and  Zoological  Gardens, 
with  a  collection  of  birds  and  animals,  among  the  best 
in  the  country. 

St.  Peter's  Cathedral  (Roman  Catholic),  in  Plum  street, 
between  Seventh  and  Eighth,  is  the  finest  religious 
edifice  in  the  city.  Its  altar  of  Carrara  marble  was 
carved  in  Genoa,  and  its  altar-piece,  "St.  Peter 
Delivered,"  by  Murillo,  a  work  of  art  of  world-wide 
reputation.  Many  of  the  Protestant  churches  are 
elegant,  and  some  of  them  actually  magnificent.  The 
Hebrew  Synagogue  on  Plum  street,  opposite  the 
Cathedral,  and  the  Hebrew  Temple,  at  tjie  corner  of 
Eighth  and  Mound  streets,  both  handsome  edifices,  one 


CINCINNATI.  131 

in  Moorish  and  the  other  in  Gothic  style,  have  each  of 
them  brilliant  interiors. 

Among  the  educational  institutions  of  Cincinnati  are 
the  University  of  Cincinnati,  having  in  connection  with 
it  a  School  of  Design  and  a  Law  School,  St.  Xavier's 
College  (Jesuit);  Wesleyan  Female  College;  Seminary 
of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  a  famous  Roman  Catholic 
College ;  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  where  Dr.  Ly man 
Beecher  was  once  president,  and  where  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  once  studied  theology  for  three  years;  several 
medical  colleges,  and  scientific,  classical  and  mechanical 
institutes. 

A  number  of  parks  surround  the  city,  furnishing  fine 
pleasure  grounds,  and  containing  magnificent  views  of 
the  river  and  its  shores. 

More  than  a  third  of  the  residents  of  Cincinnati  are 
of  German  birth  or  descent.  Besides  being  scattered  all 
through  the  city,  they  also  occupy  a  quarter  exclusively 
their  own,  on  the  north  of  the  Miami  Canal,  which  they 
have  named  "the  Rhine."  "Over  the  Rhine,"  one 
seems  to  have  left  America  entirely,  and  to  have  entered, 
as  by  magic,  the  Fatherland.  The  German  tongue  is 
the  only  one  spoken,  and  all  signs  and  placards  are  in 
German.  There  are  German  schools,  churches  and 
places  of  amusement.  The  beer  gardens  will  especially 
recall  Germany  to  the  mind  of  the  tourist.  The  Grand 
Arbeiter  and  Turner  Halls  are  distinctive  features  of 
this  quarter  of  the  city,  and  specially  worthy  of  a 
visit. 

The  Jews  also  constitute  a  proportion  of  the  inhabitants, 
respectable  both  as  to  numbers  and  character ;  and,  what 
is  worthy  of  remark,  there  is  an  unwonted  harmony 
between  Christians  and  Hebrews,  so  that  an  exchange 


132      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  pulpits  between  them  has  been  among  the  actual  facts 
of  the  past.  Dr.  Max  Lilienthal,  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  and  learned  rabbis  of  the  country,  presides 
over  one  of  the  Jewish  congregations,  and  has  preached 
to  Christian  audiences;  and  Mr.  Mayo,  the  Unitarian 
clergyman,  has  spoken  by  invitation  in  the  synagogues. 
The  Jews  of  the  city  are  noted  for  their  intelligence, 
public  spirit  and  liberality,  and  are  represented  in  the 
municipal  government,  and  on  the  boards  of  public  and 
charitable  institutions.  Quite  as  worthy  of  note  is  the 
fact  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of 
Cincinnati  is  not  influenced  by  that  spirit  of  narrow 
bigotry  which  in  certain  other  cities  of  the  Union 
excludes  Unitarians  from  fellowship. 

The  venerable  Archbishop  Purcell,  who  for  half  a 
century  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  this  diocese,  is  a  man  of  genial  manners, 
sincerely  beloved  by  all.  But  the  closing  days  of  his 
life  have  been  clouded  by  a  gigantic  financial  failure, 
amounting  to  several  millions  of  dollars,  with  which  he 
was  connected.  As  heavily  as  the  blow  has  fallen  upon 
many  of  his  flock,  the  only  blame  they  impute  to  the 
aged  prelate  is  that  of  most  faulty  judgment  and  general 
incapacity  in  financial  affairs.  The  most  singular  part 
of  it  all  was  that  the  difficulties  should  have  remained 
so  long  undiscovered,  until  such  an  immense  amount  of 
property  was  involved. 

Cincinnati's  commerce  is  very  extended,  and  so  are 
her  manufacturing  interests.  Steamboats  from  all 
points  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  lay  up  at  her 
levee,  which  extends  five  or  six  miles  around  the  bank 
of  the  river  in  front  of  the  city.  The  traveler  may 
take  his  ticket  for  St.  Paul,  New  Orleans,  Pittsburg, 


CINCINNATI.  133 

high  up  the  Ked  River,  or  any  intervening  point.  The 
staple  article  of  trade  is  pork,  though  she  exports  wine, 
flour,  iron,  machinery,  whisky,  paper  and  books.  In 
addition  to  the  water  ways,  a  large  number  of  railways, 
connecting  the  city  with  every  section  of  the  country, 
centres  there. 

The  stock  yards  of  Cincinnati  are  on  an  extended 
scale,  though  not  equaling  those  of  Chicago.  The 
Union  Railroad's  Stock  Yards,  comprising  fifty  acres  on 
Spring  Grove  avenue,  have  accommodations  for  25,000 
hogs,  10,000  sheep,  and  5,000  cattle.  In  the  pork 
packing  establishments,  thousands  of  hogs  from  the 
farms  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky,  are  slaughtered 
daily.  In  a  single  establishment  fifty  men  will  slaughter 
and  dispose  of  1,500  hogs  a  day.  Each  man  has  his 
own  special  line  of  work,  the  labor  being  divided  among 
pen-men,  knockers-down,  stickers,  scalders,  bristle- 
snatchers,  scrapers,  shavers,  hangers  or  "  gamble-men," 
gutters,  hose-boys,  slide-boys,  splitters,  cutters  with 
their  attendants,  weighers,  cleavers,  knife-men,  ham- 
trimmers,  shoulder-trimmers,  packers,  salters,  weighers 
and  branders,  lard-men,  bookkeepers,  porters  and  labor- 
ers, of  whom  fifty  will  unitedly  dispose  of  a  hog  once 
in  every  twenty  seconds.  The  old  saying  is  that  it 
takes  nine  tailors  to  make  a  man,  but  it  takes  fifty  men, 
belonging  to  all  the  professions  named  above,  to  make 
one  complete  butcher.  The  work  is  accomplished  so 
rapidly  that  the  creature  has  no  time  to  realize  what  has 
happened  to  him,  before  the  different  portions  of  his 
dissected  body  are  slipping  down  wooden  pipes,  each  to 
its  appropriate  apartment  below,  to  be  finally  disposed  of. 

Nowhere  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  grapes 
cultivated  to  such  an  extent,  and  such  quantities  of 


134      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

wine  manufactured,  as  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the  hills 
which  hem  in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  This  business  is 
mostly  engaged  in  by  Germans,  who  make  excellent 
wine,  which  has  acquired  a  world-wide  celebrity.  But 
the  grape-rot,  which  has  especially  affected  the  Cataw- 
bas,  from  which  the  best  wine  is  produced,  has  of  late 
years  rather  checked  the  industry.  Some  of  the  wine 
cellars  of  Cincinnati  are  famous,  not  only  for  the 
quantity  of  native  wine  which  they  contain,  but  for  its 
quality  as  well. 

Looking  across  the  river,  which  at  low  water  is, 
perhaps,  a  third  of  a  mile  wide,  to  the  Kentucky  side, 
one  sees,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Licking  River,  the 
city  of  Covington,  a  mass  of  black  factories  and  tall 
chimneys,  from  which  dense  smoke  is  always  ascending, 
and  spreading  out  over  the  valley.  On  the  left  or 
opposite  bank  of  the  Licking  is  Newport,  the  two 
towns  connected  by  a  suspension  bridge.  Covington  is 
also  connected  with  Cincinnati  by  a  suspension  bridge, 
1,057  feet  long  from  tower  to  tower,  its  entire  length 
2,252  feet,  and  elevated  by  two  iron  cables  above  the 
river,  at  low  water,  one  hundred  feet.  Its  weight  is 
600  tons,  but  it  is  estimated  that  it  will  sustain  a  weight 
of  16,000  tons,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  structures  of 
its  kind  in  the  world.  This  bridge  was  nine  years  in 
construction,  and  cost  nearly  two  millions  of  dollars. 
There  are  also  two  pier  railroad  bridges  across  the  Ohio 
at  Cincinnati. 

Along  the  summit  of  the  steep  levee,  close  to  the  line 
of  stores,  there  is  a  row  of  massive  posts,  three  feet 
thick  and  twenty  feet  high,  and  forty  or  fifty  feet  above 
the  usual  low  water  mark.  The  stranger  will  be 
puzzled  to  imagine  their  use.  But  let  him  visit  the 


CINCINNATI.  135 

city  during  the  spring  freshet,  and  he  will  speedily 
discover  their  purpose.  The  swelling  of  the  river  at 
that  period  brings  the  steamboats  face  to  face  with  the 
warehouses  on  the  levee,  and  they  are  secured  to  these 
huge  posts  by  means  of  strong  cables,  to  prevent  them 
being  swept  down  the  stream  by  the  mighty  rush  of 
waters.  The  usual  difference  between  the  high  and 
low  water  mark  of  the  Ohio  River  a{;  Cincinnati  is 
about  forty  feet,  though  a  flood  has  been  known  to 
mark  a  much  higher  figure  than  that.  When  this 
occurs,  which  it  does  once  or  twice  in  a  generation,  the 
overflowing  water  carries  desolation  to  all  the  lower 
parts  of  the  city.  The  ground  floors  of  houses  are 
submerged,  cellars  filled,  merchandise  damaged  or 
destroyed.  People  betake  themselves  to  the  upper 
stories,  and  make  their  way  about  the  streets  in  boats. 

The  latest  and  most  disastrous  flood  on  record  was 
that  of  1883,  when,  on  February  fifteenth,  the  river  indi- 
cated sixty-six  feet  and  four  inches  above  low  water 
mark.  Furious  rain  storms  throughout  the  Ohio 
Valley  had  swollen  all  the  streams  to  an  unprecedented 
height,  and  caused  terrible  disaster  to  all  the  towns  and 
cities  on  the  shores  of  the  Ohio  River.  For  seven  miles 
along  the  water  front  of  Cincinnati  the  water  overflowed 
valuable  property,  reaching  from  two  to  eight  blocks 
into  the  city,  so  that  the  great  suspension  bridge,  entrance 
to  which  is  from  the  top  of  the  decline,  could  not  be 
reached  except  in  boats.  A  thousand  firms  were 
washed  out.  In  Mill  Creek  Valley  are  the  large 
manufacturing  establishments,  which  employ  over  thirty 
thousand  men,  women,  and  children,  and  these  were  all 
cut  off  by  water.  Twelve  wards  in  the  city,  and  seven 
townships  in  the  country,  were  more  or  less  affected  by 


136      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  flood.  The  entire  population  of  the  flooded  city 
districts  is  nearly  130,000,  and  one  quarter  of  these, 
exclusive  of  business  interests,  were  sufferers  by  the 
flood,  their  houses  being  either  under  water  or  totally 
destroyed.  The  waterworks  were  stopped,  and  the 
city  was  left  in  darkness  by  the  submergence  of  the 
gasworks. 

On  Tuesday,  February  thirteenth,  although  the  flood 
had  not  yet  reached  its  height,  the  freight  depot  of  the 
Cincinnati  Southern  Railroad  was  undermined  by  the 
bursting  of  a  culvert  under  it,  and  fell  into  the  surround- 
ing water,  carrying  with  it,  to  certain  death,  several  people. 
More  than  twenty  railroad  tracks  were  submerged,  some 
of  them  to  a  depth  of  twelve  feet,  so  that  nearly  all 
communication  was  cut  off.  Policemen  patrolled  the 
streets  in  boats.  The  churches  were  thrown  open  to 
receive  the  homeless,  and  nearly  every  organization  in 
the  city,  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  the  ladies' 
sewing  societies,  entered  upon  the  work  of  relieving  the 
sufferers.  Contributions  poured  in  most  liberally  from 
abroad,  the  Free  Masons  of  Cleveland  alone  shipping 
twelve  large  boats,  with  a  generous  supply  of  stores. 
Before  relief  could  come  to  them,  many  persons  suffered 
severely,  from  both  cold  and  hunger.  They  were 
rescued  from  their  flooded  homes  by  the  aid  of  skiffs, 
some  of  them  with  barely  enough  clothing  to  conceal 
their  nakedness. 

It  is  estimated  that  eight  square  miles  of  Cincinnati 
were  under  water,  five  of  which  were  in  the  Mill  Creek 
Valley.  Provisions  became  scarce,  and  commanded 
high  prices.  Newport,  on  the  Kentucky  shore,  was  in 
even  a  more  deplorable  condition  than  Cincinnati. 
Supplies  became  entirely  exhausted,  and  on  the  night  of 


CINCINNATI.  137 

the  fourteenth,  fifteen  thousand  people  there  were  without 
fuel  or  provisions. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  February  the  waters  had  begun 
to  subside,  and  gradually  regained  their  normal  level, 
making  more  apparent,  as  the  flood  decreased,  the  ruin 
and  desolation  which  had  attended  it.  A  vast  deposit 
of  mud  was  left  upon  the  streets,  many  premises  had 
been  undermined  by  the  sucking  currents,  malaria 
haunted  the  wet  cellars,  the  destruction  of  merchandise 
was  found  to  be  very  heavy  indeed,  while  thousands  of 
men  were  compelled  to  remain  out  of  employment  until 
the  factories  and  mills  could  be  put  in  working  condi- 
tion. The  great  flood  of  1883  will  long  be  remembered 
by  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  the  river,  in  the  spring, 
is  also  a  time  of  great  peril  to  property.  There  is  usually 
more  or  less  rise  in  the  river  at  that  period,  with  a  swifter 
current,  and  the  floating  blocks  sometimes  drag  boats 
away  from  their  moorings,  and  crush  them  to  either 
partial  or  utter  destruction.  The  Ohio  River,  known  to 
the  French  as  La  BMe  Riviere,  so  called  because  of  its 
high  and  picturesque  banks,  is,  like  the  Mississippi,  a 
capricious  stream,  and  neither  life  nor  property  is  always 
safe  upon  its  bosom  or  along  its  shores. 

The  pride  of  Cincinnati  is  Spring  Grove  Cemetery, 
five  miles  northwest  of  the  city,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  in  the  West.  It  is  in  the  valley  of  Mill  Creek, 
and  is  approached  by  a  handsome  avenue,  one  hundred 
feet  wide.  It  contains  six  hundred  acres,  well  wooded, 
and  so  laid  out  as  to  present  the  appearance  of  a  park. 
The  boundaries  of  the  lots  are  indicated  by  sunken  stone 
posts  at  each  corner,  there  being  neither  railing,  fence, 
nor  hedge  within  the  cemetery,  to  define  these  lots.  The 


138      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

graves  are  leveled  off,  even  with  the  ground,  and  the 
monuments  are  remarkable  for  their  variety  and  good 
taste.  The  Dexter  mausoleum,  which  represents  a 
Gothic  chapel,  will  attract  special  attention ;  while  one 
of  the  principal  objects  in  the  cemetery  is  the  bronze 
statue  of  a  soldier,  cast  in  Munich,  and  erected  in  1864, 
to  the  memory  of  the  Ohio  volunteer  soldiers  who  died 
during  the  War. 

In  spite  of  many  changes  for  the  better  since  the 
war,  Cincinnati  still  retains  her  distinctive  character. 
She  has  taken  long  strides  in  the  direction  of  intellectual 
development,  and  has  now  numerous  and  extensive 
public  libraries,  of  which  any  city  might  be  proud.  The 
theatres  and  other  places  of  amusement,  which,  not  long 
since,  were  represented  by  shaky  buildings,  third-rate 
talent  and  a  general  dearth  of  attractions,  and  patronized 
more  largely  by  the  river  men  than  by  any  other  single 
class,  have  risen  to  take  rank  among  the  best  in  the 
country.  But  she  is  still  a  city  noted  for  her  wealth ; 
for  her  solid  business  enterprises  and  scrupulous  honesty, 
rather  than  for  that  spirit  of  speculation  in  which,  in 
other  cities,  fortunes  are  quickly  made,  and  even  more 
quickly  lost.  Her  prosperity  has  a  solid  foundation  in 
her  factories,  her  foundries,  her  mills  and  engine  shops. 
A  man,  to  be  successful  in  Cincinnati,  must  know  how 
to  make  and  to  do,  as  well  as  how  to  buy  and  sell.  Men 
have  risen  from  the  humblest  ranks  by  dint  of  industry 
and  energy  alone,  while  they  were  yet  young,  to  be  the 
masters  of  princely  fortunes.  Even  a  newspaper  pub- 
lisher in  that  city,  a  few  years  since,  estimated  his  prop- 
erty at  five  millions  of  dollars,  an  instance  which, 
probably,  has  not  a  parallel  in  the  civilized  world 
Nicholas  Longworth  died  worth  twelve  millions  of 


CINCINNATI.  139 

dollars,  and  her  living  millionaires  are  to  be  counted  by 
hundreds. 

Cincinnati  stands  in  the  front  rank  of  the  manufac- 
turing cities  of  America,  and  the  secret  of  her  financial 
success  is  that  she  has  made  what  the  people  of  Ohio  and 
other  States  needed  and  were  sure  to  buy.  Receiving 
their  products  in  return,  and  turning  these  to  account, 
her  merchants  have  made  a  double  profit.  As  long  as 
the  Ohio  River  sweeps  by  the  city's  front,  and  as  long  as 
the  smoke  of  her  factories  and  her  foundries  ascends  to 
heaven  and  obscures  the  fair  face  thereof,  and  corn,  trans- 
formed into  pork,  is  sent  away  in  such  quantities  to  the 
Eastern  cities  and  to  Europe ;  so  long  as  the  cotton  of 
the  South,  the  hay  of  the  blue  grass  region,  and  the  grain 
of  the  North  and  West,  find  a  market  on  her  shores,  her 
prosperity  is  secure ;  and  the  Queen  City  of  the  West,  as 
she  proudly  styles  herself,  will  go  on  increasing  in  popu- 
lation and  in  prosperity. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CLEVELAND. 

The  "  Western  Reserve."— Character  of  Early  Settlers.— Fairport. 
— Richmond. — Early  History  of  Cleveland. — Indians. — Opening 
of  Ohio  and  Portsmouth  Canal. — Commerce  in  1845. — Cleve- 
land in  1850  — First  Railroad. — Manufacturing  Interests. — 
Cuyahoga  "Flats"  atNight.— The  "Forest  City."— Streets  and 
Avenues. — Monumental  Park. — Public  Buildings  and  Churches. 
— Union  Depot. — Water  Rents. — Educational  Institutions. — 
Rocky  River. — Approach  to  the  City. — Freshet  of  1883. — 
Funeral  of  President  Garfield. — Lake  Side  Cemetery. — Site  of 
the  Garfield  Monument. 

IN  early  colonial  times,  out  of  utter  ignorance  of  the 
boundless  territory  extending  westward,  the  first 
American  Colonies  were  chartered  by  the  King,  who- 
ever he  might  have  been,  to  extend  westward  indefinitely. 
After  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  AVar,  while 
negotiations  were  in  progress  in  regard  to  the  final 
treaty  of  peace  with  the  United  States,  which  was 
ultimately  signed  at  Paris  on  November  thirtieth,  1782, 
Mr.  Oswald,  the  British  Commissioner,  proposed  the 
Ohio  River  as  the  western  boundary  of  the  young  nation , 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  firmness  and  persistence  of 
John  Adams,  one  of  the  American  Commissioners,  who 
insisted  upon  the  right  of  the  United  Colonies  to  the 
territory  as  far  westward  as  the  Mississippi,  it  is 
probable  that  the  rich  section  of  country  between  these 
two  rivers  would  still  have  formed  a  portion  of  the 
British  dominions,  or  have  been  the  source  of  subse- 
quent contention  and  expense.  When  the  Colonies  had 

140 


CLEVELAND.  141 

become  independent  States,  many  of  them  claimed  the 
right  of  soil  and  jurisdiction  over  large  portions  of 
western  unappropriated  land  originally  embraced  in 
their  charters.  Congress  urged  upon  these  States  to 
cede  these  lands  to  the  general  government,  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  They  all  yielded  to  this  request,  except 
Connecticut,  who  retained  a  small  tract  of  land  in  the 
northeastern  portion  of  the  present  State  of  Ohio,  which 
was  subsequently  divided  up  five  counties  in  length 
along  the  lake,  with  an  average  width  of  two  counties. 
The  lower  boundary  of  this  tract  of  land  was  40°  2' 
north  latitude,  and  it  extended  from  the  Pennsylvania 
line  on  the  east,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  west- 
ward, to  a  line  running  north  and  south,  a  little  west 
of  the  present  location  of  Sandusky  City.  This  tract 
of  land  was  called  the  "Western  Reserve  of  Connecti- 
cut." 

In  1801  Connecticut  ceded  all  her  jurisdictional 
claims  over  the  territory,  but  it  continues  to  be  known, 
to  this  day,  as  the  "  Connecticut  Reserve,"  the  "  Western 
Reserve,"  or  simply  as  the  "Reserve."  This  "Western 
Reserve"  is  like  a  little  piece  of  New  England  in  a 
mosaic,  representing  many  sections  and  many  peoples. 
It  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  that  in 
emigrating  it  usually  moves  along  parallels  of  latitude, 
and  rarely  diverges  much  either  northward  or  south- 
ward. We  find  to  the  eastward  of  Ohio,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Delaware  and  Virginia,  and 
all  of  these  States  have  contributed  to  her  population. 
Thus,  below  the  Reserve,  the  people  are  largely  from 
Pennsylvania;  still  further  south,  from  Maryland  and 
Virginia ;  and  the  lower  section  of  the  State  is  allied 


142       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

more  by  kindred  and  sympathy  with  the  South  than 
with  the  North.  But  on  the  Western  Reserve,  the 
cosmopolitan  character  of  the  inhabitants  is  at  once  lost. 
It  is  New  England  in  descent  and  ideas.  The  little 
white  meeting  house,  and  the  little  red  school  house  not 
far  off,  both  as  bare  and  homely  as  a  stern  Puritan  race 
could  conceive  of,  were  everywhere  met  in  the  early 
days  of  its  settlement,  after  the  log  cabin  epoch  had 
passed  away.  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  Vermont 
furnished  the  principal  immigrants,  and  they  built  their 
neat  and  thrifty  little  New  England  towns  over  again, 
and  maintained  their  New  England  sturdiness  and 
simplicity. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Reserve  have  been,  and  are 
still,  noted  for  their  thrift,  their  intelligence  and  their 
superior  culture.  That  section  has  furnished  many 
distinguished  public  men,  and  one  President,  to  the 
country.  It  was,  in  the  old  slavery  days,  spoken  of 
contemptuously  as  "  the  hotbed  of  abolitionism,"  and 
gave  both  Giddingsand  Wade  to  fight  the  battle  against 
Southern  dominion  in  the  United  States  Congress. 
Here  Garfield  was  born,  and  here  he  is  buried. 
Howells,  the  novelist,  was  a  native  of  the  Reserve,  and 
passed  his  life  until  early  manhood  in  its  northeastern- 
most  county. 

The  northern  shores  of  the  Reserve  are  washed  by 
Lake  Erie,  the  shallowest,  most  treacherous  and  least 
picturesque  of  all  the  chain  of  lakes  which  form  our 
northern  boundary.  It  embraces  the  "Great  Divide" 
between  the  north  and  the  south,  its  waters  flowing  to 
the  sea  by  both  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi. 
Summit  and  Portage  counties,  by  their  names,  indicate 
the  locality  of  this  Divide. 


CLEVELAND.  143 

Very  early  in  the  present  century,  the  sturdy  New 
England  pioneers,  looking  for  a  suitable  harbor  upon 
the  lake,  discovered  the  mouth  of  Grand  River,  about 
thirty-five  miles  northeast  of  the  Cuyahoga  River; 
and  in  1803,  two  miles  up  this  river,  the  first  warehouse 
on  the  lake  was  built. 

In  1812  the  town  of  Fairport,  at  the  mouth  of 
this  river,  was  laid  out,  and  was  destined  by  its 
founders  to  be  the  future  great  lake  city  of  Ohio. 
It  had  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  harbors 
on  the  lake,  well  defended  from  storms,  and  easy  of 
access,  so  that  vessels  entered  it  without  difficulty  when 
they  could  not  make  other  ports.  The  water  was  deep 
enough  for  any  large  craft,  and  in  the  course  of  time  the 
government  expended  a  considerable  sum  of  money  in 
improving  the  harbor.  A  line  of  boats  was  speedily 
established  between  Fairport  and  Buffalo,  which  in  those 
railroadless  days  were  liberally  patronized.  Nearly  all 
the  lake  steamers  bound  for  other  ports  stopped  there, 
and  its  business  constantly  increased.  A  lighthouse 
was  built,  and  its  future  prosperity  seemed  assured. 

During  the  great  period  of  land  speculation,  between 
1830  and  1840,  the  town  of  Richmond  was  laid  out  oa 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  Grand  River,  by  wealtny 
eastern  capitalists,  who  established  their  homes  there, 
and  transported  to  the  infant  city  the  wealth,  magnifi- 
cence and  luxuriant  social  customs  of  the  east.  During 
their  brief  reign,  they  gave  entertainments  such  as  were 
not  equaled  in  that  section  of  the  country  for  many 
long  years  afterwards.  A  large  village  was  built  and  a 
steamboat  was  owned  there. 

Meantime,  a  little  town  had  been  growing  up  on  the 
banks  of  the  Cuyahoga.  The  first  permanent  settlement 


144       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

had  been  made  as  early  as  1796,  and  named  Cleveland, 
in  honor  of  General  Moses  Cleveland,  of  Canterbury, 
Connecticut.  At  that  period  the  nearest  white  settlement 
was  at  Conneaut,  on  the  east,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the 
River  Raisin,  to  the  west.  Immigration  at  that  period 
did  not  march  steadily  westward,  each  new  settlement 
being  in  close  proximity  to  an  older  one,  but  it  took 
sudden  jumps  over  wide  extents  of  territory,  so  that  for 
many  years  isolated  families  or  small  neighborhoods 
were  far  apart.  Each  little  settlement  had  to  be  sufficient 
unto  itself,  since,  to  reach  any  other  involved  a  long, 
difficult  and  often  dangerous  journey.  Up  to  nearly 
1800  each  house  in  Cleveland  had  its  own  hand  grist- 
mill standing  in  the  chimney-corner,  in  which  the  flour 
or  meal  for  the  family  consumption  was  slowly  and 
laboriously  ground  each  day.  In  the  spring  of  1799 
Wheeler  W.  Williams  and  Major  Wyatt  erected  the 
first  grist  and  saw  mill  on  the  Reserve,  at  Newburg,  a 
few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga. 

The  first  ball  ever  given  in  Cleveland  was  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1801,  in  a  log  cabin,  the  company 
numbering  thirty,  of  both  sexes.  The  first  militia 
muster  was  held  at  Doane's  Corners,  on  the  sixteenth 
ot  June,  1806.  The  spot  is  now  incorporated  in  the 
city  of  Cleveland.  Never  before  had  been  so  many 
whites  collected  together  in  this  region  as  on  this 
occasion,  which  was  one  of  general  excitement.  The 
militia  consisted  of  about  fifty  privates,  with  the  usual 
complement  of  officers,  but  a  surveying  party  and  a 
number  of  strangers  were  present  and  added  to  the 
spectators. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  Indians  were  in 
the  habit  of  meeting  every  autumn,  at  Cleveland,  piling 


CLEVELAND.  145 

their  canoes  up  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  and 
scattering  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  which 
constituted  their  great  winter  hunting  grounds.  In  the 
spring  they  returned,  disposed  of  their  furs,  and  entering 
their  canoes,  departed  up  the  lake  for  their  villages,  in 
the  region  of  Sandusky  and  Maumee,  where  they  raised 
their  crops  of  corn  and  potatoes.  Many  local  names 
are  of  Indian  origin ;  Cuyahoga  means  "  crooked  river." 
Geauga,  the  name  of  an  adjoining  county,  signifies 
"  raccoon."  Their  encampment  on  going  and  returning 
was  usually  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  and  in  their 
drinking  bouts,  in  which  they  occasionally  indulged, 
they  were  sometimes  quarrelsome  and  dangerous,  but  do 
not  seem,  on  the  whole,  to  have  given  the  settlers  much 
trouble.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  1812,  an  Indian 
named  McMic  was  hanged  for  murder,  on  the  public 
square  of  Cleveland.  There  were  fears  that  the  Indians 
would  rally  to  his  rescue,  and  a  large  number  of  citizens 
from  Cuyahoga  and  adjoining  counties,  armed  them- 
selves and  attended  the  execution,  prepared  for  any 
outbreak.  The  Indians  remained  peaceable,  but  the 
prisoner,  at  the  last  moment,  refused  to  ascend  the  scaf- 
fold. Finally,  his  scruples  were  overcome  by  a  pint  of 
whisky,  which  he  swallowed  with  satisfaction  before 
yielding  to  the  inevitable. 

In  1813  Cleveland  became  a  depot  for  supplies  and 
troops  during  the  war,  and  a  permanent  garrison  was 
established  there,  a  small  stockade  having  been  erected 
on  the  lake  bank,  at  the  foot  of  Ontario  street.  The 
return  of  peace  was  celebrated  in  true  American  style. 
The  cannon  which  was  fired  in  honor  of  the  occasion  was 
supplied  with  powder  by  one  Uncle  Abram,  who  carried 
an  open  pail  of  the  explosive  material  on  his  arm.  An- 


146       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

other  citizen  bore  a  lighted  stick  with  which  to  touch  off 
the  gun.  In  the  excitement,  the  latter  swung  his  stick 
in  the  air;  a  spark  fell  into  Uncle  Abram's  powder,  and 
that  worthy,  whether  from  astonishment  or  some  other 
cause,  suddenly  sprang  twenty  feet  into  the  air,  his 
ascent  being  accompanied  by  a  deafening  report.  When 
he  came  down  again,  his  clothing  was  singed  off,  and  he 
vociferously  protested  that  he  was  dead.  But  the 
multitude  refused  to  take  his  word  for  it,  and  it  was  not 
a  great  while  before  he  had  completely  recovered  from 
the  accident. 

The  Ohio  Canal,  which  connects  Lake  Erie  at  this 
point  with  the  Ohio  River  at  Portsmouth,  was  completed 
in  1834,  and  from  that  date  her  prosperity  seems  to  have 
been  established.  She  was  incorporated  a  city  in  1836. 
About  this  time  the  great  western  land  bubble  burst, 
and  with  it  the  hopes  of  Fairport  and  Richmond.  The 
latter  city  speedily  disappeared  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  its  name  from  the  map.  Its  houses  were 
taken  up  bodily  and  removed  to  adjacent  towns.  Boats 
still  continued  to  stop  at  Fairport,  but  they  began  to  stop 
more  frequently  at  Cleveland,  and  while  the  business  of 
the  former  point  was  at  a  standstill,  that  of  the  latter 
continued  to  increase.  In  1840  its  population  was  over 
6,000,  and  its  supremacy  fairly  established.  In  1850 
Fairport  was  still  a  little  hamlet,  the  boats  passing  her 
far  out  in  the  lake  without  giving  her  so  much  as  a  nod 
of  recognition ;  while  the  wharves  of  Cleveland  were 
lined  with  shipping,  and  her  population  did  not  fall  far 
short  of  20,000. 

Besides  the  Cleveland  and  Portsmouth  Canal,  which 
opened  up  a  line  of  traffic  with  the  south  and  southwest, 
communication  was  also  had  with  the  East,  by  means  of 


CLEVELAND.  147 

canal  to  Pittsburg  and  to  New  York,  and  the  lakes  were 
a  highway,  not  only  to  the  East  but  to  the  North  and 
West.  Cleveland  became  the  great  mart  of  the  grain- 
growing  country.  Its  harbor  was  extended  and  improved 
by  the  erection  of  piers  each  side  of  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  two  hundred  feet  apart,  and  extending  out  several 
hundred  feet  into  the  lake,  furnishing  effective  break- 
waters, and  ample  room  for  the  loading  and  unloading 
of  vessels.  A  lighthouse  was  erected  at  the  end  of  each 
pier,  and  one  already  stood  upon  the  cliff. 

In  1845  the  number  of  vessels  Arrived  by  lake  was 
2,136  ;  and  of  these  927  were  steamers.  The  tonnage 
then  owned  at  that  port  amounted  to  13,493,  and  the 
number  of  vessels  of  all  kinds  eighty-five.  The  total 
value  of  exports  and  imports  by  the  lake  for  that  year 
was  over  $9,000,000.  Cleveland  occupied  a  small  region 
on  the  cliff  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga.  Ontario 
street  was  filled  with  boarding-houses  and  private  resi- 
dences. Euclid  avenue  and  Prospect  street  extended 
for  a  few  squares,  and  were  then  lost  in  the  country. 
The  flats  through  which  the  river  wound  its  devious 
way  were  occupied  as  pastures  for  the  cows  of  persons 
living  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  business  portion  of 
the  town  was  contained,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  two 
squares  on  Superior  street,  west  of  Ontario.  Ohio  City 
was  a  separate  corporation,  a  straggling,  dilapidated 
town,  looking  like  a  country  village,  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  Cuyahoga,  connected  with  Cleveland  by  means  of 
drawbridges. 

In  the  fall  of  1852  the  first  whistle  of  the  locomotive 
was  heard  down  by  the  river  side,  in  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land. It  started  the  city  into  new  life,  and  woke  all  the 
farmers  within  the  sound  of  its  hoarse  screech  into 


148       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

renewed  energy.  That  fall  and  winter  there  was  a  butter 
famine  in  all  that  region.  The  market  being  opened  to 
New  York,  butter  went  suddenly  up  from  eight  and  ten 
cents  a  pound,  to  twelve,  sixteen,  and  then  to  twenty 
cents.  Buyers  could  afford  to  pay  no  such  fancy  price 
for  an  article  which  might  be  dispensed  with  ;  and  pro- 
ducers were  equally  unwilling  to  put  upon  their  own 
tables  anything  which  would  yield  them  such  a  hand- 
some profit  on  selling.  And  so  many  families,  not  only 
of  mechanics,  but  of  farmers  as  well,  went  without  butter 
that  winter ;  the  latter  happy  in  receiving,  first  twenty, 
then  twenty-two,  and  finally  twenty-five  cents  per  pound 
for  the  products  of  their  dairies. 

This  first  railroad  gave  the  city  a  fresh  start,  and 
presently  others  found  their  terminus  here.  Population 
and  business  have  both  steadily  increased  since  then, 
until  in  1880  the  former  was  160,142,  and  its  commerce 
immense,  especially  with  Canada  and  the  mining 
regions  of  Lake  Superior.  Since  1860  the  city  has 
rapidly  developed  in  the  direction  of  manufacturing 
industries.  The  headquarters  of  the  giant  monopoly, 
known  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  Cleveland  is  the 
first  city  of  the  world  in  the  production  of  refined  petro- 
leum. The  old  pasture  grounds  of  the  cows  of  1850  are 
now  completely  occupied  by  oil  refineries  and  manufactur- 
ing establishments;  and  the  river,  which  but  a  genera- 
tion ago  flowed  peaceful  and  placid  through  green  fields, 
is  now  almost  choked  with  barges,  tugs  and  immense 
rafts.  Looking  down  upon  the  Cuyahoga  Flats,  from 
the  heights  of  what  was  once  Ohio  City,  but  is  now 
known  as  the  West  Side  of  Cleveland  itself,  the  view, 
though  far  from  beautiful,  is  a  very  interesting  one. 
There  are  copper  smelting,  iron  rolling,  and  iron 


CLEVELAND.  149 

manufacturing  works,  lumber  yards,  paper  mills, 
breweries,  flour  mills,  nail  works,  pork-packing  estab- 
lishments, and  the  multitudinous  industries  of  a 
great  manufacturing  city,  which  depends  upon  these 
industries  largely  for  its  prosperity.  The  scene  at 
night,  from  this  same  elevated  position,  is  picturesque 
in  the  extreme.  The  whole  valley  shows  a  black  back- 
ground, lit  up  with  a  thousand  points  of  light  from 
factories,  foundries  and  steamboats,  which  are  multi- 
plied into  two  thousand  as  they  are  reflected  in  the 
waters  of  the  Cuyahoga,  which  looks  like  a  silver 
ribbon  flowing  through  the  blackness. 

Cleveland  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
city  of  the  many  which  are  found  upon  the  shores  of 
the  great  lakes.  It  stands  on  a  high  bluff  overlooking 
Lake  Erie.  It  is  laid  out,  for  the  most  part,  with 
parallel  streets,  crossed  by  others  at  right  angles;  and 
even  in  the  heart  of  the  city  nearly  every  house  has  its 
little  side  and  front  yard  filled  with  shrubbery  and 
shaded  by  trees,  a  large  majority  of  the  latter  being 
elms.  The  great  number  of  these  trees  fairly  entitle 
Cleveland  to  be  known  as  the  "Forest  City."  The 
streets  are  very  wide,  and  the  principal  ones  are  paved. 

The  main  business  thoroughfare  and  fashionable 
promenade  is  Superior  street,  which  is  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  feet  wide,  and  lined  with  handsome 
hotels  and  retail  stores.  From  the  foot  of  this  street, 
and  on  a  level  with  it,  was  completed,  in  1878,  a  great 
stone  viaduct,  connecting  the  East  Side  with  the  West 
Side,  reaching  the  latter  at  the  junction  of  Pearl  and 
Detroit  streets.  This  roadway  is  3,211  feet  long,  and 
cost  $2,200,000.  Some  years  before  a  bridge  had  been 
constructed  in  the  same  locality,  at  a  sufficient  elevation 


150      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

to  permit  the  passage  under  it  of  various  craft;  but 
even  at  this  height  there  was  quite  a  descent  to  reach  it, 
and  an  equal  ascent  on  leaving  it  on  the  other  side. 
The  drawbridge  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  was 
totally  inadequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  business,  and 
was  often  open  for  long  periods  of  time  while  vessels 
were  passing  through. 

Ontario,  Bank,  Water,  Mervin  and  River  streets  and 
Euclid  avenue  are  other  important  business  streets  on 
the  East  Side.  Detroit,  Pearl  and  Lorain  are  the 
principal  thoroughfares  on  the  West  Side. 

Monumental  Park  is  a  square  ten  acres  in  extent,  in 
the  centre  of  the  city,  crossed  by  Superior  and  Ontario 
streets.  It  is  divided  by  these  streets  into  four  sections 
and  is  shaded  by  fine  trees.  In  the  southeast  section 
stands  a  monument  to  Commodore  Perry,  the  hero  of 
the  battle  of  Lake  Erie,  erected  in  1860,  at  a  cost  of 
$8,000.  It  contains  a  colossal  statue  of  the  Commodore, 
in  Italian  marble,  standing  on  a  pedestal  of  Rhode 
Island  granite,  the  entire  monument  being  about  twenty 
feet  in  height.  In  front  of  the  pedestal  is  a  marble 
medallion,  representing  Perry  in  a  small  boat  passing 
from  the  Lawrence  to  the  Niagara,  in  the  heat  of  battle. 
In  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Park  is  a  pool  and 
cascade,  and  in  the  northwest  a  handsome  fountain.  In 
this  park  was  erected  the  large  catafalque  under  which 
the  casket  containing  the  remains  of  the  late  President 
Garfield  was  laid  in  state  until  and  during  the  grand 
public  funeral,  after  which  it  was  taken  to  the  cemetery. 
This  park  is  surrounded  by  very  handsome  churches 
and  public  buildings,  among  which  latter  are  the 
Custom  House,  Post  Office,  Federal  Courts,  County 
Court  House  and  City  Hall,  all  magnificent  edifices. 


CLEVELAND.  151 

Case  Hall,  near  the  park,  contains  a  concert  hall  capable 
of  seating  fifteen  hundred  persons,  a  library,  reading 
room,  and  the  rooms  of  the  Cleveland  Library  Associa- 
tion. The  Opera  House,  a  new  and  handsome  building, 
is  on  Euclid  avenue.  There  are,  besides,  an  Academy 
of  Music  and  the  Globe  Theatre  and  several  minor 
theatres. 

The  business  portion  of  Euclid  avenue  extends  from 
the  Park  to  Erie  street,  beyond  which  it  is  lined  with 
handsome  residences,  elegant  cottages  and  superb  villas, 
the  grounds  around  each  being  more  and  more  extensive 
as  it  approaches  the  country.  It  is  probably  the  finest 
avenue  in  the  world,  and  is  not  less  than  ten  miles  in 
length,  embracing  during  its  course  several  suburbs 
which  a  generation  since  were  remote  from  the  city,  and 
are  now  considerably  surprised  to  find  themselves  brought 
so  near  it.  Euclid  avenue  crosses  the  other  streets 
diagonally,  and  was  evidently  one  of  the  original  roads 
leading  into  the  city  before  it  attained  its  present 
dimensions.  The  majority  of  the  streets  are  parallel 
with  the  lake  front,  which  pursues  a  course  from  the 
northeast  to  the  southwest.  But  Euclid  avenue  runs 
directly  eastward  for  about  three  miles,  to  Doane's 
Corners,  one  of  the  historic  spots  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Cleveland,  and  then  turns  to  the  northeast,  following 
nearly  parallel  to  the  course  of  the  lake.  Prospect 
street  runs  parallel  to  Euclid  avenue,  and  is  only  second 
to  it  in  the  beauty  and  elegance  of  its  residences.  St. 
Clair  street  is  also  a  favorite  suburban  avenue,  extending 
parallel  to  the  lake,  a  little  distance  from  it,  far  out  into 
the  country,  and  containing  many  handsome  residences. 

Newburg,  once  three  miles  from  the  city,  and  the  site 
of  the  first  saw  and  grist  mill  on  the  Reserve,  is  now 


152      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

included  as  a  suburb  of  Cleveland,  and  contains  exten- 
sive iron  manufactories. 

The  Union  Depot,  erected  in  1866,  is  one  of  the  finest 
and  largest  in  the  country.  It  is  built  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake,  below  the  bluff,  and  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga.  Streets  more  or  less  steeply  graded  furnish  access 
to  it  for  carriages  and  vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  while 
a  long  flight  of  massive  stone  steps  conduct  the  pedestrian 
directly  to  the  summit  of  the  cliff,  where  horse-cars, 
leading  by  various  routes  to  all  quarters  of  the  city, 
are  waiting  for  him.  All  the  railroads  leading  out  of 
the  city  centre  here.  In  the  keystone  over  the  main 
entrance  of  the  depot  is  a  bas  relief  portrait  of  Mr. 
Amasa  Stone,  under  whose  supervision  it  was  built. 
Similar  portraits  of  Grant  and  Lincoln  are  found  upon 
keystones  at  either  end  of  the  building. 

The  waterworks  stand  near  the  lake,  west  of  the 
river,  and  by  means  of  a  tunnel  extending  some  six 
thousand  feet  out  under  the  lake,  pure  water,  forced  by 
two  powerful  engines  into  a  large  reservoir  upon  the  cliff, 
is  supplied  to  the  entire  city.  This  reservoir  is  a  popular 
resort  for  pleasure  seekers,  and  furnishes  a  fine  view  of 
the  city,  lake  and  surrounding  country. 

Cleveland  enjoys  superior  educational  facilities.  Her 
schools  are  not  excelled  by  any  in  the  country,  and 
she  has,  besides,  several  large  libraries.  The  Western 
Reserve  College,  until  recently  located  at  Hudson,  a 
small  village  about  twenty  miles  to  the  southeast,  has 
been,  within  the  last  few  years,  removed  to  this  city. 
The  Medical  College,  a  branch  of  the  Western  Reserve 
College,  founded  in  1843,  occupies  an  imposing  building 
at  the  corner  of  Erie  and  St.  Clair  streets.  Near  this 
college,  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  stands  the  extensive 


CLEVELAND.  153 

United  States  Marine  Hospital,  surrounded  by  grounds 
nine  acres  in  extent,  beautifully  laid  out  and  well  kept. 
There  are  a  number  of  parks  and  gardens  in  the 
suburbs  of  Cleveland,  one  of  the  most  extensive  having 
been  a  donation  to  the  city  by  Mr.  Wade,  one  of  her 
millionaires.  The  favorite  drive,  however,  next  to  the 
avenue,  is  across  the  Cuyahoga  and  seven  miles  west- 
ward to  Rocky  River,  which  flows  into  the  lake  through 
a  narrow  gorge  between  perpendicular  cliffs  which 
project  themselves  boldly  into  the  lake.  Here  a  park 
has  been  laid  out,  and  all  that  art  can  do  has  been  done 
to  add  to  the  natural  beauties  of  the  place.  From  this 
point  a  distant  view  of  the  city  may  be  obtained,  its 
spires  pointing  to  the  sky  out  of  a  billow  of  green.  To 
the  west  is  Black  River  Point,  with  its  rocky  promon- 
tories, and  on  the  north  stretches  out  an  unbroken 
expanse  of  water,  with  here  and  there  the  long  black  trail 
of  a  steamer  floating  in  the  air,  its  wake  like  a  white 
line  upon  the  water ;  or  white  specks  of  sails  dotting  the 
horizon.  The  coast  between  Cleveland  and  Rocky 
River  is  high  and  precipitous,  the  emerging  streams 
rushing  into  the  lake  by  means  of  rapids  and  waterfalls. 
On  this  inhospitable  coast,  which  affords  no  landing  for 
even  a  small  boat,  more  than  one  frail  bark  came  to 
grief  in  the  early  days  of  the  white  man's  possession  of 
the  land,  and  nearly  all  its  living  freight  found  a  watery 
grave.  In  1806  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hunter,  his 
wife  and  child,  a  colored  man  named  Ben,  and  a  small 
colored  boy,  were  driven  by  a  squall  upon  these  rocks. 
They  climbed  up  as  far  as  possible,  the  surge  constantly 
beating  over  them,  and  finally  they  died,  one  after  the 
other,  from  exposure  and  hunger,  and  after  five  days 
only  the  man  Ben  was  rescued  alive.  A  similar 


154      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

occurrence  transpired  the  following  spring.  Of  the 
eighteen  deaths  which  took  place  at  Cleveland  during 
the  first  twelve  years  after  its  settlement,  eleven  were 
caused  by  drowning. 

Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  nothing  more  desolate  or 
devoid  of  beauty  can  be  imagined  than  was  the  lake 
and  river  approach  to  Cleveland.  The  cars  ran  along 
the  foot  of  the  cliff,  while  the  space  (between  the  tracks 
and  the  table  land  upon  which  the  city  is  built  was 
given  up  to  rubbish  and  neglect.  Little  huts,  the  size 
of  organ  boxes,  were  perched  here  and  there,  swarming 
with  dirty,  half-clad  children  and  untidy  women,  and 
festooned  with  clothes-lines,  from  which  dangled  a 
motley  array  of  garments.  Blackness,  .dirt  and  decay 
were  visible  everywhere ;  and  the  vestibule  of  the  most 
beautiful  city  in  America  presented  to  the  visitor  the 
opposite  extreme  of  repulsiveness.  But  now  all  this  is 
changed  ;  one  enters  the  Forest  City  through  a  continuous 
park.  Coming  from  the  east,  the  waves  of  the  beautiful 
inland  sea  almost  wash  the  tracks.  On  the  left  the 
steep  slope  is  covered  by  green  grass,  shrubbery  and 
trees,  the  line  broken  here  and  there,  perhaps,  by  private 
grounds  no  less  beautiful,  while  the  United  States  Marine 
Hospital  crowns  the  cliff,  at  Erie  street,  with  its  ample 
and  well-kept  grounds.  Reaching  the  depot  the 
traveler  at  once  ascends  the  cliff,  and  avoids  the 
necessary  ugliness  of  the  immense  railroad  yard,  with  its 
gridiron  of  tracks.  Even  the  river,  once  so  unsightly, 
presents  to  view  the  ceaseless  movements  of  multifarious 
business,  all  of  which  indicate  the  prosperity  and 
thriving  industry  of  the  city. 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  western  cities  that  they  give  so 
much  thought  and  spend  so  much  money  in  public 


CLEVELAND.  155 

improvements,  and  especially  those  which  are  merely 
decorative.  Cleveland  is  in  no  wise  behind  the  rest. 
No  city  in  the  east,  though  many  of  them  boast  extensive 
and  expensive  public  parks,  bestows  so  much  thought, 
labor  and  money,  to  make  her  general  appearance 
beautiful  and  attractive  to  the  stranger.  If  first 
impressions  count  for  much,  as  it  is  said  they  do,  then 
Cleveland  has  proved  herself  wise.  She  possesses  many 
natural  advantages  of  position.  She  is  not  in  a  slough, 
like  Chicago,  being  built  on  a  gravelly  plain  about  one 
hundred  feet  above  the  lake.  Nor  is  she  subject  to 
inundation,  like  Cincinnati,  most  of  her  business  sites 
and  residences  being  far  above  the  water.  The  Cuya- 
hoga  River  sometimes,  however,  does  damage  to  the 
manufacturing  establishments  along  its  shores.  In 
February,  1883,  a  freshet  occurred,  which  raised  the 
river  ten  feet  above  its  ordinary  level,  and  flooded  all 
its  valley.  Enormous  quantities  of  lumber  and  shingles 
were  washed  from  the  lumber  yards.  The  Valley 
Railroad  was  several  feet  under  water  ;  paper  mills, 
furnaces  and  other  property  submerged  nearly  to  the 
top  of  the  first  story.  The  Infirmary  Farm,  further  up 
the  river,  was  under  water,  and  the  damage  of  the  flood 
was  estimated  at  not  less  than  a  million  dollars.  The 
water  was  higher  than  at  any  period  since  1859,  when 
a  similar  disaster  occurred. 

All  eyes  were  turned  towards  Cleveland,  when,  in 
September,  1881,  a  mournful  cortege  proceeded  thither, 
accompanying  the  remains  of  the  murdered  Chief 
Magistrate.  A  mighty  concourse  of  people  assembled 
in  the  park  to  assist  at  the  last  sad  rites,  and  then  the 
funeral  procession  passed  out  the  beautiful  Euclid 
avenue  to  Lake  View  Cemetery,  where  the  casket  was 


156      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

deposited  in  a  vault  prepared  for  it,  and  was  guarded 
by  soldiers  night  and  day ;  and  there,  on  a  spot  over- 
looking the  lake,  and  surrounded  by  a  lovely  country, 
varied  by  hill  and  dale,  cultivated  farms  and  elegant 
suburban  residences,  all  that  is  mortal  of  James  Abram 
Garfield  has  found  its  last  resting-place,  while  his 
memory  lives  in  fifty  millions  of  hearts,  and  his  fame  is 
immortal.  The  youngest  son  of  his  mother,  and  she  a 
widow,  reared  in  poverty  and  obscurity,  by  dint  of  his 
unswerving  integrity  and  overmastering  intellect,  he 
rose  to  occupy  the  highest  position  which  man  can 
accord  to  his  fellow  man,  that  of  being  the  chosen  head 
of  a  free  and  intelligent  people.  And  now,  cut  off  as 
he  was,  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  a  nation  mourns  her 
dead,  and  Lake  View  Cemetery  is  to-day  a  spot  of 
national  interest.  It  is  five  miles  from  the  city,  contains 
three  hundred  acres,  and  lies  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  lake.  It  commands  extensive 
views,  and  though  opened  as  late  as  1870,  is  already 
very  beautiful.  It  was  here  that  Garfield  expressed  his 
desire  to  be  buried.  Here,  on  a  knoll  commanding  one 
of  the  finest  views  the  cemetery  affords,  his  tomb  will  be 
eventually  constructed,  and  a  monument  reared  to  him, 
as  a  mark  of  the  nation's  appreciation  of  his  character 
and  sorrow  at  his  untimely  death. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CH  ICAGO. 

Topographical  Situation  of  Chicago.—  Meaning  of  the 
Early  History.  —  Massacre  at  Fort  Dearborn.  —  Last  of  the  Red 
Men.  —  The  Great  Land  Bubble.  —  Rapid  Increase  in  Popula- 
tion and  Business.  —  The  Canal.  —  First  Railroad.  —  Status  of 
the  City  in  1871.  —  The  Great  Fire.  —  Its  Origin,  Progress  and 
Extent.  —  Heartrending  Scenes.  —  Estimated  Total  Loss.  —  Help 
from  all  Quarters.  —  Work  of  Reconstruction.  —  Second  Fire.  — 
Its  Public  Buildings,  Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions, 
Streets  and  Parks.  —  Its  Waterworks.  —  Its  Stock  Yards.  —  Its 
Suburbs.  —  Future  of  the  City. 


two  things  in  the  United  States,  if  nothing 
else  —  see  Niagara  and  Chicago,"  said  Richard 
Cobden,  the  English  statesman,  to  Gold  win  Smith,  on 
the  eve  of  the  departure  of  the  latter  to  America.  And 
truly,  if  one  would  obtain  a  proper  sense  of  America's 
wonders  and  achievements,  then  Niagara  and  Chicago 
may  be  accepted  as  respectively  the  highest  types  of 
each.  Niagara  remains  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
forever.  But  if  it  were  a  desirable  thing  to  see  Chicago 
at  the  time  of  the  visit  referred  to,  how  much  more  so 
is  it  to-day,  when,  Phoenix-like,  she  has  arisen  from  her 
own  ashes,  turning  that  which  seemed  an  overwhelming 
disaster  into  positive  blessing;  drawing  her  fire-singed 
robes  proudly  about  her,  crowning  herself  with  the 
diadem  of  her  own  matchless  achievements,  and  sitting 
beside  her  inland  sea,  the  queenliest  city  of  them  all. 

Situated    upon   a   flat   and  relatively   low   tract  of 
country,  Chicago  is  yet  upon  one  of  the  highest  plan* 

157 


158       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

elevations  of  our  continent.  Lake  Michigan  represents 
the  headwaters  of  the  great  chain  of  American  lakes, 
through  which,  in  connection  with  the  St.  Lawrence, 
much  of  the  rainfall  of  that  city  finds  its  way  to  the 
Atlantic;  while  through  the  canal  to  the  Illinois  River, 
its  sewage  is  borne  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Perhaps 
no  more  hopeless  site  could  have  been  selected  for  a 
city  than  that  seemed  half  a  century  ago.  A  bayou  or 
arm  of  the  lake  penetrated  the  land  for  half  a  mile  or 
more,  but  a  sand-bar  across  its  mouth  prevented  the 
ingress  of  all  but  the  smallest  craft.  This  bayou,  called 
by  courtesy  the  Chicago  River,  separated  into  two 
branches,  the  course  of  one  of  which  was  in  a  northerly 
direction,  and  of  the  other  in  a  southerly  one.  The 
land  was  barely  on  a  level  with  the  lake,  and  at  portions 
of  the  year  was  a  vast  morass,  some  parts  of  it  being 
entirely  under  water.  Teams  struggled  helplessly 
through  the  black  ooze  of  its  prairies,  and  a  carriage 
would  sink  three  or  four  feet  in  mud  and  mire  within 
two  miles  of  where  the  court  house  now  stands.  Some- 
times in  this  slough  a  board  would  l>e  set  up,  with  a 
rude  inscription:  "No  bottom  here."  But  American 
enterprise  has  found  a  bottom  and  reared  a  city,  the 
history  of  whose  seemingly  magical  building  almost 
rivals  the  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights. 

Chicago  is  an  Indian  word,  signifying  the  widely- 
varying  titles  of  a  king  or  deity,  and  a  skunk  or  wild 
onion.  In  its  early  history,  while  drainage  it  had  none, 
and  its  water  supply  was  mere  surface  water,  foul  with 
all  the  accumulated  impurities  of  the  soil,  and  while 
from  the  lagoon,  which  lay  stagnant  for  twelve  or  fifteen 
miles,  a  horrible,  sickening  stench  constantly  arose,  the 
latter  appellations  seemed  singularly  appropriate,  and 


CHICAGO.  159 

no  doubt  originated  in  these  conditions.  But  since  the 
city  has  been  purified  by  fire,  and  its  sanitary  conditions 
made  such  as  they  should  be,  it  has  earned  its  right  to 
the  nobler  titles. 

The  first  white  visitors  to  the  site  of  Chicago  were 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  who  arrived  in  August,  167.3. 
The  year  following  his  first  visit  Pere  Marquette 
returned  and  erected  a  rude  church.  Later  the  French 
seem  to  have  built  a  fort  on  the  spot,  but  no  traces  of  it 
remained.  Very  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  John 
Kinzie,  an  Indian  trader  and  agent  of  the  American 
Fur  Company,  having  traded  with  the  Indians  at  this 
point  for  some  time,  probably  influenced  the  government 
to  build  a  fort  here.  Accordingly,  in  1804,  Fort 
Dearborn  was  built  and  garrisoned  with  about  fifty  men 
and  three  pieces  of  artillery.  Mr.  Kinzie  removed  his 
family  to  the  place  the  same  year. 

In  1812,  Fort  Dearborn  was  the  scene  of  a  bloody  In- 
dian massacre.  Captain  Hull,  then  in  command  of  the 
fort,  having  placed  too  great  confidence  in  the  professions 
of  fidelity  of  the  Pottawatoraie  tribe,  and  trusting  to  an 
escort  of  that  tribe  to  convey  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants 
of  the  fort  to  Fort  Wayne,  saw  his  entire  party  either 
killed  or  taken  prisoners,  and  found  himself  a  prisoner. 
The  fort  stood  at  the  head  of  Michigan  avenue,  below 
its  intersection  with  Lake  street.  Abandoned  and 
destroyed  at  this  period,  it  was  rebuilt  in  1816,  and 
finally  demolished  in  1856. 

For  four  years  the  place  was  deserted  by  the  whites, 
and  even  the  fur  traders  did  not  care  to  visit  it.  In 
1818  two  families  had  established  themselves  upon  the 
spot.  In  1820  some  dozen  houses  represented  the  future 
city,  and  in  1827  a  government  agent  reported  the 


160      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

place  as  a  collection  of  pens  and  kennels,  inhabited  by 
squatters,  "  a  miserable  race  of  men,  hardly  equal  to  the 
Indians."  The  population  numbered  seventy  in  1830. 
In  1832  there  were  six  hundred  people  in  the  miserable 
little  town.  In  September,  1833,  the  United  States 
purchased  of  the  Indians  20,000,000  acres  of  land  in 
the  northwest,  the  latter  pledging  themselves  to  remove 
twenty  days'  journey  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Seven 
thousand  redskins  attended  the  making  of  this  treaty, 
which  was  ratified  by  the  chiefs  in  a  large  tent  on  the  bank 
of  the  river.  A  year  later  four  thousand  Indians  returned 
to  receive  an  annuity  of  $30,000  worth  of  goods.  The 
distribution  of  these  goods  was  the  occasion  of,  first,  a 
fierce  scramble,  followed  by  a  bloody  fight,  in  which 
several  Indians  were  killed  and  others  wounded  ;  the 
scene  closing  by  a  wild  debauch,  so  that  on  the  following 
morning  few  of  the  recipients  were  any  better  off  for 
the  property  which  had  been  given  them.  Similar 
scenes,  with  similar  results,  were  enacted  in  1835.  But 
that  was  the  last  Chicago  saw  of  the  red  men.  In 
September,  a  train  of  forty  wagons,  each  drawn  by  four 
oxen,  conveyed  away  on  their  far  westward  march  the 
children  and  effects  of  the  Pottawatomies,  while  the 
squaws  and  braves  walked  beside  them.  It  took  them 
twenty  days  to  reach  the  Mississippi,  and  twenty  days 
longer  it  took  them  to  attain  a  point  which  can  now  be 
reached  from  Chicago  in  fifteen  hours. 

In  1827,  Major  Long,  a  government  agent  sent  to 
visit  the  place,  spoke  of  the  site  as  "affording  no 
inducements  to  the  settler,  the  whole  amount  of  trade 
on  the  lake  not  exceeding  the  cargoes  of  five  or  six 
schooners,  even  at  the  time  when  the  garrison  received 
its  supplies  from  the  Mackinac."  In  1833  the  tide  of 


CHICAGO.  161 

immigration  began.  At  the  end  of  that  year  there 
were  fifty  families  floundering  in  the  Chicago  mud.  In 
1834  there  were  nearly  two  thousand  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  and  at  the  close  of  1835  more  than  three 
thousand.  In  1835-6  Chicago  became  the  headquarters 
of  a  great  land  speculation.  Multitudes  of  towns 
sprang  up  in  every  direction,  on  paper.  The  country 
was  wild  with  excitement.  Even  eastern  capitalists 
were  seized  with  the  mania,  and  fortunes  were  made 
and  lost  in  this  wild  gambling  in  prospective  cities.  The 
bubbleshortly  burst,  resulting  in  great  business  depression. 
The  State  was  bankrupt,  and  Chicago  languished.  But 
not  for  long.  Turning  from  the  frenzy  of  speculation,  its 
inhabitants  wisely  gave  their  attention  to  developing 
legitimate  business  interests.  The  United  States  had, 
in  1833,  spent  $30,000  in  dredging  out  the  Chicago 
River,  and  in  the  spring  of  1834  a  most  timely  freshet 
had  swept  away  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
making  it  accessible  for  the  largest  craft.  In  1838  a 
venturesome  trader  shipped  from  that  port  seventy-eight 
bushels  of  wheat.  In  1839  four  thousand  bushels  were 
sent.  In  1842  the  amount  of  wheat  exported  arose  all 
at  once  from  forty  thousand  bushels  to  nearly  six  hundred 
thousand  bushels.  In  1839  three  thousand  cattle  were 
driven  across  the  prairies,  and  sent  to  the  eastern  market; 
and  every  year  thereafter  showed  a  surprising  increase. 
Yet  with  all  this  accumulating  commerce,  the  streets  of 
the  city  were  still  quagmires,  and  many  a  farmer  came 
to  grief  with  his  load  of  grain  within  what  is  now  city 
limits.  Before  there  was  a  railroad  begun  or  a  canal 
finished,  Chicago  exported  two  and  a  quarter  millions 
of  bushels  of  grain  in  a  year,  and  sent  back  on  the 
wagons  which  brought  it  loads  of  merchandise. 


1G2      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  Illinois  River  is  connected  with  the  Chicago 
River,  and  through  that  to  Lake  Michigan,  by  a  canal 
which  enters  it  at  La  Salle,  ninety-six  miles  from 
Chicago.  This  canal  was  begun  in  1836  and  completed 
in  1848.  It  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  the  youthful 
western  town,  and  established  its  future  prosperity. 
Connected  as  it  already  was  with  the  east  by  the 
magnificent  lake  and  river  system  of  our  northern 
borders,  this  canal  opened  up  communication  with  the 
south  and  west,  and  made  Chicago  the  portal,  so  to 
speak,  between  the  different  sections  of  our  country. 

In  1849  the  first  railroad  had  approached  within  ten 
miles  of  the  city.  In  1852  direct  communication  with 
the  east  was  gained  by  the  completion  of  the  Michigan 
Central  and  Michigan  Southern  railroads,  while  more 
than  one  western  railroad  was  projected,  and  some  of 
them  in  actual  process  of  construction.  To-day, 
Illinois  and  its  adjoining  States  are  literally  gridironed 
with  iron  roads,  nearly  all  of  which  centre  at  Chicago. 
In  1857  there  were  living  beside  the  still  stagnant 
waters  of  the  Chicago  River  one  hundred  thousand 
people. 

In  1871  Chicago  was  the  fourth  city  of  the  country, 
claiming  .a  population  of  334,000  persons.  By  a  chef 
d'ouvre  of  engineering,  the  waters  of  the  river  had  been 
turned  backward,  and  made  to  carry  away  its  sewage  to 
fertilize  the  shores  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi. 
The  streets  had  been  drained,  hollow  places  filled  up, 
and  their  grade  had  been  gradually  raised,  until  it  stood 
twelve  feet  higher  than  at  first.  Some  of  the  buildings 
were  raised  at  once  to  the  latest  established  grade,  and 
others  remained  as  they  had  been  built.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  the  plank  sidewalks  became  a  series  of 


CHICAGO.  163 

stairs,  adapting  themselves  to  the  buildings  which  they 
fronted.  The  principal  streets  were  paved  with  stone 
or  with  the  Nicholson  pavement.  The  triple  river  was 
spanned  by  no  less  than  seventeen  drawbridges,  while 
two  tunnels  afforded  uninterrupted  travel  between  the 
opposite  sides.  Efficient  waterworks  had  been  con- 
structed to  provide  pure  water  for  the  use  of  the  city. 
The  total  trade  for  the  year  previous  to  the  great  fire 
was  estimated  at  $400,000,000.  Its  grain  trade  had 
reached  such  enormous  proportions  that  seventeen  large 
elevators,  with  an  aggregate  capacity  of  11,580,000 
bushels  were  required  for  its  accommodation.  Eighteen 
banks  were  in  operation,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
$10,000,000  and  with  nearly  $17,000,000  of  deposits. 
The  city  was  beginning  to  give  its  attention  largely  to 
manufactures,  and  its  lumber  trade  had  grown  into 
something  almost  fabulous.  Miles  of  lumber  yards 
extended  along  one  of  the  forks  of  the  river,  and  its 
harbor  was  sometimes  choked  with  arriving  lumber 
vessels.  In  a  single  day,  three  or  four  years  before  the 
fire,  a  favorable  wind  blew  into  port  no  less  than 
two  hundred  and  eighteen  vessels  loaded  with 
lumber.  One  hundred  passenger  and  one  hundred 
and  twenty  freight  trains  arrived  and  departed  daily; 
and  seventy-five  vessels  unloaded  and  loaded  at  her 
wharves  every  twenty-four  hours. 

Chicago  Redivivus  should  bear  upon  her  shield  a  cow 
rampant.  On  the  evening  of  the  eighth  of  October, 
1871,  Mrs.  Scully's  cow  kicked  herself  into  history,  and 
Chicago  into  ruin  and  desolation.  Chicago  is  divided 
by  the  river  and  its  branches  into  three  different 
sections,  known  as  the  north,  south  and  west  sides.  The 
principal  business  portion  of  the  city  is  on  the  south 


164      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

side,  and  along  the  margins  of  the  lake  and  streams. 
The  "burnt  district/'  which  even  yet  the  Chicagoan 
will  outline  to  the  visitor  with  peculiar  pride,  was 
confined  almost  wholly  to  the  south  and  north 
sides. 

On  the  evening  of  October  seventh  a  planing  mill  had 
caught  fire  on  the  west  side,  and  the  conflagration  had 
spread  over  a  territory  embracing  about  twenty  acres, 
destroying  a  million  dollars'  worth  of  property.  This 
fire,  terrible  as  it  seemed,  probably  saved  the  west  side 
from  destruction  on  that  fatal  night  of  the  eighth, 
imposing  as  it  did  a  broad  banner  of  desolation,  when 
the  flames  essayed  to  leap  across  the  river. 

At  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  Sunday,  Octo- 
ber eighth,  1871,  a  cow  kicked  over  a  lantern  among 
loose,  dry  hay,  in  a  stable  at  or  near  the  corner  of 
Jefferson  and  DeKoven  streets,  on  the  west  side.  There 
had  been  no  rain  of  any  consequence  for  fourteen  weeks, 
and  roofs  and  wooden  buildings  were  as  dry  as  tinder. 
There  was  a  strong  wind  blowing  from  the  southwest, 
and  before  the  engines  could  reach  the  spot,  half  a  dozen 
adjoining  buildings  were  wrapped  in  flames.  The 
buildings  of  that  quarter  were  mostly  of  wood,  and 
there  were  several  lumber  yards  along  the  margin  of 
the  river.  The  flames  swept  through  these  with  resist- 
less fury,  and  then  made  a  bold  and  sudden  leap 
across  the  river  into  the  very  heart  of  the  business 
portion  of  the  south  side.  Many  of  the  buildings 
here  also  were  of  wood,  while  the  wooden  side- 
walks, and  wooden  block  pavements,  the  latter  filled 
with  an  inflammable  composition,  seemed  constructed 
especially  tc  aid  and  hasten  the  work  of  the  flames. 
The  fire  marched  steadily  toward  the  north  and  east, 


„ ,, 


CHICAGO.  165 

destroying  everything  in  its  course.  Even  fireproof 
buildings  seemed  to  melt  down  as  it  touched  them. 

The  wind  increased  to  a  gale,  and  all  night  long  the 
fire  wrought  its  terrible  will,  like  a  devouring  demon  ; 
and  at  sunrise  it  had  already  leaped  the  narrow  barrier 
of  the  river,  and  was  devastating  the  northern  side, 
sweeping  away  block  after  block  of  the  wooden 
structures  which  occupied  to  a  large  extent  that  quarter 
of  the  city.  The  flames  seized  upon  the  shipping  in  the 
river,  and  when  it  left  it  only  blackened  hulls  remained. 
The  water  supply,  upon  which  the  city  had  founded 
hopes  in  case  of  such  extremity,  failed.  The  walls  of 
the  buildings,  weakened  by  the  overpowering  heat,  had 
fallen  in  upon  the  engines,  and  hope  was  quenched  in 
that  quarter. 

The  .flames  spread  southward  as  far  as  Taylor  street, 
and  to  the  northward  they  only  paused  when,  at  Fuller- 
ton  avenue,  the  broad  prairie  lay  before  them,  and  there 
was  nothing  more  to  burn.  The  track  of  the  fire  was 
nearly  five  miles  in  length,  running  north  and  south, 
and  averaged  a  mile  in  width.  It  continued  from 
nine  o'clock  on  Sunday  night  until  daybreak  Tuesday 
morning,  and  then  nothing  was  left  of  all  the  business 
portion  of  Chicago,  save  avast  blackened  field  on  which 
the  flames  still  smouldered,  with  piles  of  rubbish, 
formed  by  fallen  buildings,  and  here  and  there  portions 
of  walls  still  standing.  Every  bank,  insurance  office, 
hotel,  theatre,  railroad  depot,  law  office,  newspaper 
office,  most  of  the  churches,  all  but  one  of  the  wholesale 
stores,  and  many  of  the  warehouses  and  retail  stores,  six 
elevators,  fifty  vessels,  and  sixteen  thousand  dwellings, 
including  many  elegant  mansions,  besides  numberless 
humble  homes,  were  destroyed  ;  two  hundred  persons 


166      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

killed,  and  a  hundred  thousand  people  suddenly  found 
themselves  homeless  and  penniless,  without  food  to  eat 
or  clothes  to  wear. 

The  scenes  accompanying  the  fire  were  terrible  and 
heart-rending.  They  were  a  mingling  of  the  horrible 
and  grotesque,  the  tragic  and  the  ridiculous,  such  as  was 
probably  never  witnessed  before  on  so  grand  a  scale, 
and  we  trust  will  never  be  repeated  ;  and  over  it  all  the 
smoke  hung  like  a  pall,  stifling  and  blinding,  and  the 
flames  cast  a  baleful  glare,  which  lit  up  the  scene  and 
made  it  seem  like  a  literal  inferno. 

The  fire  spread  with  a  rapidity  which  baffled  all 
attempts  to  check  it.  Many  made  a  feeble  effort  to 
save  their  household  goods,  an  effort  which  was  too 
often  futile,  while  others  barely  escaped  with  their  lives, 
clad  only  in  their  scant  night  garments.  The  slreets 
were  filled  with  a  frantic  multitude;  vehicles  of  every 
description,  laden  with  movable  property ;  men,  women 
and  children,  some  of  them  burdened  with  their  belong- 
ings, and  others  nearly  naked,  forgetful  of  all  but  the 
terrible  danger  of  the  hour,  all  wild  with  the  insanity 
born  of  fear,  and  all  fleeing  from  the  pursuing  demon 
which  pressed  on  behind  them,  and  whose  hot  breath 
scorched  their  garments  and  singed  their  hair.  Many 
took  refuge  in  the  river  or  the  lake ;  but  the  hissing 
flames  stooped  down  and  licked  the  water,  and  the 
poor  victims  were  made  to  feel  the  tortures  of  a  double 
death.  Very  few  of  these  escaped  with  their  lives. 

The  progress  of  the  flames  was  so  swift  that  many 
were  overwhelmed  by  the  crumbling  walls  of  their 
houses  or  workshops  before  they  had  time  to  escape, 
and  found  in  them  a  fiery  tomb.  Others  were  suffo- 
cated by  the  smoke.  Children  were  separated  from 


CHICAGO.  167 

parents,  and  young  and  old  sought  safety  wherever  they 
could  find  it,  and  a  mad  panic  reigned  everywhere. 
Many  saloons  were  thrown  open,  and  whisky  flowed 
freely,  and  the  turbulent  riot  of  drunkenness  was  added, 
to  increase  the  confusion  and  despair  of  the  dreadful 
night.  Sneak  thieves  and  larger  depredators  found 
spoil  on  every  hand.  In  this  terrible  calamity  each 
one  seemed  to  throw  off  his  mask,  and  become  what  he 
really  was — the  brave  man,  the  noble  gentleman,  the 
selfish  coward,  the  bully  or  the  thief. 

A  single  leaf  of  a  quarto  Bible,  charred  around  its 
edges,  was  all  that  was  left  of  the  immense  stock  of  the 
Western  News  Company.  It  contained  the  first  chapter 
of  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  which  begins  with  the 
following  words :  "  How  doth  the  city  sit  solitary  that 
was  full  of  people !  how  is  she  become  as  a  widow ! 
she  that  was  great  among  the  nations,  and  princess 
among  the  provinces,  how  is  she  become  tributary  ! 
She  weepeth  sore  in  the  night,  and  her  tears  are  on  her 
cheeks  :  among  all  her  lovers  she  hath  none  to  comfort 
her." 

The  amount  lost  by  the  insurance  companies,  Ameri- 
can and  foreign,«by  the  Chicago  fire,  was  $88,634,133. 
More  than  2,200  acres  were  swept  by  the  flames  in  the 
space  of  thirty  hours.  The  value  of  buildings  alone 
consumed  was  estimated  at  $75,000,000,  while  their 
contents  were  at  least  as  much  more.  The  total  loss 
probably  not  much  less  than  $200,000,000. 

No  sooner  had  the  news  of  the  dreadful  calamity 
gone  abroad  to  the  world,  than  the  spirit  of  generosity 
prompted  efficient  aid  from  all  quarters.  St.  Louis, 
Milwaukee,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  New  York,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Montreal,  cities  and  towns  in 


168      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  north,  south,  east  and  west,  sent  generous,  and  some 
of  them  princely,  donations.  Even  China  forwarded 
$1,290.  By  December  first  the  public  cash  donations 
had  reached  $2,508,000.  The  naked  were  clothed,  the 
hungry  fed,  the  homeless  housed  in  at  least  temporary 
quarters,  and  Chicago  set  herself  to  the  task  of  recon- 
struction. 

The  smouldering  ruins  were  yet  glowing  with  heat, 
and  the  smoke  was  still  ascending  here  and  there,  when, 
on  Wednesday  morning,  the  work  of  regeneration  began. 
Within  a  month,  five  or  six  thousand  temporary 
tenements  had  been  erected.  Meantime  the  foundations 
for  the  permanent  structures  were  being  laid,  on  a  scale 
far  surpassing  those  of  the  past.  In  a  year  not  a  trace 
of  the  fire  remained. 

Nearly  three  years  later,  on  July  fourteenth,  1874, 
another  great  fire  swept  over  the  devoted  city,  destroying 
eighteen  blocks,  or  sixty  acres,  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
and  about  $4,000,000  worth  of  property.  Over  six 
hundred  houses  were  consumed,  but  by  far  the  larger 
number  were  mere  wooden  shanties. 

To-day  Chicago  counts  her  great  fire  as  one  of  her 
chief  blessings.  The  city  is  entirely  rebuilt,  but  not  with 
rickety  wooden  structures,  the  previous  plenitude  of 
which  had  rendered  her  so  easy  a  prey  to  the  devouring 
element.  Solid,  substantial,  handsome,  and  in  many 
instances  magnificent,  the  stranger  can  scarely  realize 
that  these  blocks  of  buildings  are  not  the  growth  of  a 
century,  or  of  a  generation  even,  but  have  sprung  from 
the  ground  almost  in  a  night.  The  new  Chicago  is  sur- 
passingly beautiful  and  grand.  The  visitor  will  walk 
through  squares  and  squares  of  streets,  each  teeming 
with  life  and  commercial  activity,  and  bearing  no  trace, 


CHICAGO.  169 

save  in  increased  elegance,  of  the  disaster  of  little  more 
than  a  decade  ago ;  and  is  forced  to  the  conclusion  that, 
for  courage  and  enterprise,  Chicago  has  proved  herself 
unsurpassed  by  any  city  in  the  world. 

Chicago  .has  a  water  frontage  of  thirty-eight  miles, 
of  which  twenty-four  are  improved,  without  including 
the  lake  front,  where  an  outer  harbor  is  in  process  of 
construction.  The  rivers  are  now  spanned  by  thirty-five 
drawbridges,  while  a  tunnel,  1,608  feet  long,  with  a 
descent  of  forty-five  feet,  connects  the  south  and  west 
sides  of  Washington  street,  and  another  tunnel,  with  a 
total  length  of  1,854  feet,  connects  the  north  and  south 
sides  on  the  line  of  La  Salle  street. 

State  street,  on  the  south  side,  is  the  Broadway  of 
Chicago.  Randolph  street  is  famous  for  its  magnificent 
buildings,  among  which  are  the  city  and  the  county 
halls.  Washington  street  is  one  of  the  fashionable  prome- 
nades, lined  with  retail  stores,  though  Dearborn  street 
closely  rivals  it.  The  United  States  Custom  House  and 
Post  Office,  a  magnificent  structure,  costing  upward  of 
$5,000,000,  occupies  the  square  bounded  by  Clark, 
Adams,  Jackson  and  Dearborn  streets.  The  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  a  spacious  and  imposing  building,  with 
elaborate  interior  decorations,  is  at  the  corner  of  Wash- 
ington and  La  Salle  streets,  opposite  City  Hall  Square. 
Its  ceiling  is  frescoed  with  allegorical  pictures  represent- 
ing the  trade  of  the  city,  the  great  fire  and  the  rebuild- 
ing. The  Union  Depot,  in  Van  Buren  street,  at  the 
head  of  La  Salle,  is  among  the  finest  buildings  of  the 
city.  The  Exposition  Building  is  a  vast  ornate  struc- 
ture of  iron  and  glass,  occupying  the  lake  front,  extend- 
ing from  Monroe  to  Jackson  street,  and  with  a  front  of 
eight  hundred  feet  on  Michigan  avenue.  The  centre  of 


170      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  edifice  is  surmounted  by  a  dome  one  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  high  and  sixty  feet  in  diameter.  Annual 
expositions  of  the  art  and  industry  of  the  city  are  held 
here  every  autumn. 

Among  the  hotels  of  Chicago  the  Palmer  House  takes 
the  lead.  This  house  was  destroyed  by  the  fire,  but  has 
been  rebuilt  with  a  magnitude  and  elaborateness  far 
exceeding  its  former  self,  and  constituting  it  one  of  the 
finest,  if  not  the  finest,  in  the  world.  It  is  entirely  fire- 
proof, being  constructed  only  of  incombustible  materials, 
brick,  stone,  iron,  marble  and  cement.  It  has  three 
fronts,  on  State  and  Monroe  streets  and  "VVabash 
avenue,  and  the  building  and  furnishing  cost  $3,500,- 
000.  It  is  kept  on  both  the  American  and  European 
plans,  and  continually  accommodates  from  six  hundred 
to  one  thousand  guests.  The  Grand  Pacific  Hotel  is  in 
no  respect  inferior  to  the  Palmer  House.  It  occupies 
half  the  block  bounded  by  Jackson,  Clark,  Adams  and 
La  Salle  streets.  The  Sherman  and  Tremont  Houses  are 
fine  hotels  and  centrally  located. 

There  are  about  three  hundred  churches  in  Chicago, 
including  those  untouched  by  fire  and  those  which  have 
been  since  rebuilt.  The  great  Tabernacle,  on  Monroe 
street,  where  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey  held  their 
meetings,  is  used  for  sacred  concerts  and  other  religious 
gatherings,  and  will  seat  ten  thousand  persons. 

In  literary  and  educational  institutions  Chicago  holds 
a  foremost  place.  Its  common  schools  are  among  the 
best  in  the  country,  with  large,  handsome,  convenient 
and  well-ventilated  buildings.  The  University  of 
Chicago,  founded  by  the  late  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
occupies  a  beautiful  site  overlooking  the  lake,  and  boasts 
the  largest  telescope  in  America.  It  has  a  Public 


CHICAGO.  171 

Library  containing  60,000  volumes.  The  Academy  of 
Sciences  lost  a  valuable  col  lection  of  38,000  specimens  in 
the  fire,  but  has  erected  a  new  building  and  is  slowly 
gathering  a  new  museum  and  library.  There  are  three 
Theological  Seminaries,  and  three  Medical  Colleges, 
three  hospitals,  and  a  large  number  of  charitable  insti- 
tutions within  the  city.  The  fire  department  is  most 
efficiently  organized,  and  its  annual  expenses  are  scarcely 
less  than  $1,000,000. 

Chicago  has  the  most  extensive  system  of  parks  and 
boulevards  of  any  city  in  the  United  States.  Lincoln 
Park,  lying  upon  the  lake  to  the  northward,  contains 
310  acres,  and  served,  during  the  great  fire,  as  a  place 
of  refuge  for  thousands  of  people  driven  thither  by  the 
raging  element.  The  Lake  Shore  Drive,  the  great  north 
side  boulevard,  extends  from  Pine  street  to  Lake  View, 
and  is  one  of  the  finest  drives  in  the  world.  Humboldt 
Park,  Central  Park  and  Douglas  Park  extend  along 
the  western  boundaries  of  the  city,  are  large,  contain 
lakes,  ponds,  walks,  drives,  fountains  and  statuary,  and 
are  connected  with  each  other  by  wide  and  elaborately 
ornamented  boulevards.  The  great  South  Parks  are 
approached  on  the  north  by  Drexel  and  Grant  Boule- 
vards. Drexel  Boulevard  is  devoted  exclusively  to 
pleasure,  all  traffic  over  it  being  forbidden.  The  most 
southerly  of  the  two  south  parks  extends  upwards  of  a 
mile  and  a  half  along  the  shore  of  the  lake.  Union 
Park  is  located  in  the  very  centre  of  the  residence 
portion  of  the  west  side. 

Whatever  Chicago  accomplishes  is  on  so  gigantic  a 
scale  that  strangers  almost  hold  their  breath  in  astonish- 
ment. Among  the  titanic  achievements  of  this  youth- 
ful giant  are  the  waterworks,  which  supply  pure 


172      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

drinking  water  to  its  six  hundred  thousand  population. 
The  water  supply  is  by  means  of  a  tunnel  sent  out 
under  Lake  Michigan  for  a  distance  of  two  miles,  the 
water  being  forced  by  numerous  engines  into  an 
immense  standpipe,  154  feet  high.  The  works  are 
situated  at  Che  foot  of  Chicago  avenue.  In  tunneling 
under  the  lake,  excavations  went  on  simultaneously  at 
the  land  end  and  two  miles  out  in  the  lake;  and  so 
accurate  were  the  calculations  that  when  the  two  tunnels 
met  in  the  centre,  they  were  found  to  be  but  seven 
and  one-half  inches  out  of  the  line,  and  there  was  a 
variation  of  but  three  inches  in  the  horizontal  measure- 
ments. This  tunnel,  which  is  made  of  iron,  protected 
by  heavy  masonry,  is  large  enough  for  a  canoe  to  pass 
through  it  when  it  is  but  partially  filled  with  water,  it 
being  nine  feet  in  diameter.  The  exit  at  the  lake  end  of 
the  tunnel  is  protected  by  a  breakwater,  and  securely 
anchored  to  its  place  by  means  of  heavy  stones.  Storms 
never  affect  it,  save  sometimes  to  produce  a  light 
tremor ;  and  even  large  fields  of  ice,  which  grate  by  it 
with  a  fearful,  crunching  noise,  have  thus  far  failed  to 
shake  its  foundations. 

Chicago  ships  a  considerable  portion  of  her  grain  in 
the  shape  of  flour,  there  being  extensive  flouring  mills  in 
the  city.  The  present  annual  export  of  flour  is  probably 
not  less  than  3,000,000  barrels.  Chicagoans  have  also 
found  it  possible  to  pack  fifteen  or  twenty  bushels  of 
corn  in  a  single  barrel.  "  The  corn  crop,"  remarks  Mr. 
Ruggles,  "  is  condensed  and  reduced  in  bulk  by  feeding 
it  into  an  animal  form,  more  portable.  The  hog  eats 
the  corn,  and  Europe  eats  the  hog.  Corn  thus  becomes 
incarnate^  for  what  is  a  hog  but  fifteen  or  twenty  bushels 
of  corn  on  four  legs  ?"  The  business  of  pork-packing 


CHICAGO.  173 

has  attained  enormous  proportions  in  Chicago.  It  has 
entirely  superseded  Cincinnati,  the  former  "Pork- 
opolis,"  in  this  branch  of  trade.  Cincinnati,  Louisville, 
St.  Louis,  Indianapolis  and  Milwaukee  do  not  together 
furnish  a  total  number  of  head  slaughtered  equal  to 
that  of  Chicago. 

The  stock  yards,  just  outside  the  city  limits  on  the 
southwest,  are  the  largest  in  the  world.  They  cover 
hundreds  of  acres,  and  constitute  what  has  been  styled 
"  The  Great  Bovine  City  of  the  World."  This  bovine 
city  is  regularly  laid  out  in  streets  and  alleys  crossing 
each  other  at  right  angles.  The  principal  street  is 
called  Broadway,  and  it  is  a  mile  long  and  seventy-five 
feet  wide.  On  either  side  are  the  cattle  pens,  and  it  is 
divided  by  a  light  fence  into  three  paths,  so  that  herds 
of  cattle  can  pass  one  another  without  wrangling,  and 
leave  an  unobstructed  road  for  the  drovers.  These 
yards  are  connected  with  all  the  railroads  in  the  west 
centering  in  Chicago.  The  company  have  twenty-five 
miles  of  track.  A  cattle  train  stops  along  the  street  of 
pens ;  the  side  of  each  car  is  removed,  and  the  living 
freight  pass  over  a  declining  bridge  into  clean,  planked 
inclosures,  where  food  and  water  is  quickly  furnished 
them.  A  large  and  comfortable  hotel  furnishes  accom- 
modation for  their  owners  ;  there  is  a  Cattle  Exchange, 
a  spacious  and  elegant  edifice;  a  bank  solely  for  the 
cattle-men's  use ;  and  a  telegraph  office,  which  reports 
the  price  of  beef,  pork  and  mutton  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  The  present  capacity  of  the  yards  is  25,000 
head  of  cattle,  100,000  hogs,  22,000  sheep,  and  1,200 
horses.  A  town  of  five  thousand  inhabitants  has  grown 
up  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  these  stock  yards. 

In  some  of  the  yards  not  less  than  five  hundred  beeves 


174      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

are  slaughtered  daily.  Much  of  this  beef  is  sent  in 
refrigerator  cars  to  the  Atlantic  cities,  while  enormous 
quantities  are  cooked  and  packed  in  cans  and  sent  all 
over  the  world. 

Suburban  towns  have  spread  out  from  Chicago,  in 
every  direction,  over  the  prairie.  South  Chicago,  one  of 
the  principal  of  these,  is  twelve  miles  to  the  southward, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  river,  and  has  a  large 
amount  of  capital  invested  in  iron  and  steel  works.  The 
sloughy  morasses  which  still  exist  between  the  parent 
city  and  its  thrifty  offshoots  are  fast  being  filled  up, 
and  bridged  over  with  pavements,  so  that  the  mud, 
which  a  generation  ago  was  the  chief  distinguishing 
feature  of  Chicago  and  its  vicinity,  but  which  is  now 
confined  to  outlying  sections,  will  soon  be  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Chicago  is  itself  extending  rapidly  in  all 
directions,  and  numberless  suburban  streets  are  lined 
with  pretty  cottages,  whose  rural  surroundings  have 
given  to  the  city  its  appropriate  name  of  "  The  Garden 
City." 

Taking  its  past  as  a  criterion,  who  shall  dare  to 
predict  the  future  of  Chicago  ?  It  has  by  no  means 
come  to  a  stand-still,  but  is  to-day  increasing  its  popula- 
tion, developing  its  resources,  and  extending  its 
commercial  enterprises  to  a  degree  that  is  scarcely 
credible,  save  as  one  is  faced  by  actual  facts  and  figures. 
These  miles  of  streets,  filled  with  the  incessant  roar  of 
business;  these  lofty  temples,  magnificent  warehouses 
and  elegant  residences;  these  public  institutions  of 
learning;  this  gigantic  commerce,  this  high  degree  of 
civilization ;  all  of  which  have  been  attained  by  older 
cities  after  a  prolonged  struggle  with  adversity,  are  here 
the  creations  and  accumulations  of  less  than  two 


CHICAGO.  175 

generations.  Up  the  Chicago  Kiver,  where  considerably 
less  than  a  century  ago  the  Indian  paddled  his  solitary 
canoe,  and  John  Jacob  Astor  annually  sent  his  single 
small  schooner  to  bring  provisions  to  the  garrison  and 
to  take  away  his  furs,  there  swarms  a  fleet  of  vessels 
of  all  descriptions,  bringing  goods  from,  and  sending 
them  to,  every  quarter  of  the  world.  Where,  no  later 
than  1834,  a  grand  wolf  hunt  was  held,  and  one  bear 
and  forty  wolf  scalps  were  the  trophies  of  the  day,  the 
bears  of  the  Stock  Exchange  alone  rage  and  howl,  and 
the  only  wolves  are  human  ones.  Chicago  is  a  great 
and  a  magnificent  city,  embodying  more  perfectly  than 
any  other  in  the  world  the  possibilities  of  accomplish- 
ment of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  given  its  best  conditions 
of  freedom,  independence  and  intelligence. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CHEYENNE. 

Location  of  Cheyenne. — Founding  of  the  City. — Lawlessness. — 
Vigilance  Committee. — Woman  Suffrage. — Rapid  Increase  of 
Population  and  Business. — A  Reaction. — Stock  Raising. — Irri' 
gation. — Mineral  Resources. — Present  Prospects. 

/CHEYENNE  is  the  half-way  house,  on  the  Union 
V_y  Pacific  Railroad,  between  the  civilization  of  the 
East  and  that  of  the  West.  It  is  situated  on  Crow 
Creek,  a  branch  of  the  South  Platte  River,  just  at  tho 
foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  A  few  miles  away  to  the 
westward  the  ascent  of  the  Black  Hills  begins,  the  road 
ascending  over  the  rugged  granite  hills,  and  winding  in 
and  out  of  miles  of  snow  sheds.  It  is  five  hundred 
and  sixteen  miles  from  Omaha,  and  has  an  elevation  01 
more  than  six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  being  one 
thousand  more  than  Denver,  and  with  an  atmosphere 
proportionately  rarer  and  dryer. 

The  city  is  a  child  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  being, 
during  the  building  of  that  road,  its  winter  terminus. 
When  it  was  found  that  Cheyenne  was  probably  to 
become  an  important  railroad  point,  there  was  a  grand 
exodus  of  roughs,  of  all  classes  and  of  both  sexes,  to  the 
spot.  Habitations  sprang  up  as  if  by  magic,  and  were 
of  the  rudest  construction,  some  of  them  being  mere 
dug-outs  in  the  sand  hills.  Town  lots  ran  up  to  fabu- 
lous prices.  The  first  city  government  was  organized  in 
August,  1867,  and  the  first  newspaper,  the  Cheyenne 
Leader,  published  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  the  following 

176 


CHEYENNE.  177 

month.  On  the  thirtieth  of  November,  1867,  the  track 
layers  reached  the  city  limits,  and  were  greeted  by  music 
and  a  grand  demonstration  on  the  part  of  the  people. 
The  first  passenger  train  arrived  the  next  day. 

In  the  winter  of  1868  Cheyenne  contained  not  less 
than  six  thousand  inhabitants.  Lawlessness  was  the 
order  of  the  day,  and  gambling,  drinking  and  shooting 
were  the  favorite  recreations.  Knock-downs  and  rob- 
beries were  matters  of  course,  and  murders  of  too  frequent 
occurrence  to  cause  special  excitement.  During  these 
early  days  of  its  history  the  young  city  acquired  two 
names,  both  of  which  were  exceedingly  suggestive,  not 
to  say  appropriate.  Its  rapid  growth  fastened  upon  it 
the  name  of  "  Magic  City  of  the  Plains ; "  the  desperate 
character  of  its  inhabitants,  that  of  "  Hell  on  Wheels." 

When  the  city  was  but  six  months  old,  the  patience 
of  the  order-loving  people  was  tried  beyond  endurance. 
A  Vigilance  Committee  was  formed,  and  justice  came 
swift  and  sure,  without  the  intervening  and  delaying 
processes  of  the  law.  Its  first  public  demonstration 
occurred  in  the  following  manner.  Three  men  had 
been  arrested  on  January  tenth,  1868,  charged  with 
stealing  $900,  and  put  under  bonds  to  appear  at  court. 
On  the  morning  of  the  day  after  their  arrest  they  were 
found  on  Eddy  street,  walking  abreast  and  tied  together, 
with  a  placard  attached  to  them,  bearing  the  following 
inscription,  in  conspicuous  lettering:  "$900  stole; 
$500  returned ;  thieves,  F.  S.  Clair,  W.  Grier,  E.  D. 
Brownville.  City  authorities,  please  not  interfere  until 
10  o'clock  A.  M.  Next  case  goes  up  a  tree.  Beware  of 
Vigilance  Committee."  During  that  year  no  less  than 
twelve  desperadoes  were  hung  and  shot,  and  five  sent  to 

the  penitentiary,  through   the  agency  of  the  Vigilance 
12 


178      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Committee.  The  condition  of  affairs  was  at  once 
materially  improved. 

In  1871  the  Territorial  Legislature  passed  a  bill 
giving  universal  suffrage,  without  distinction  of  sex. 
The  ladies  at  once  made  use  of  their  newly-acquired 
political  right,  with  an  earnestness  and  universality 
entirely  unexpected  by  those  who  had  conferred 
its  exercise  upon  them.  In  their  capacity  as  grand 
jurors,  they  closed  every  gambling  saloon  and 
brothel  in  the  city,  put  restrictions  upon  the  liquor 
traffic,  brought  criminals  to  justice  who  had  heretofore 
defied  the  law,  and,  in  brief,  made  a  clean  sweep  of  the 
city,  raising  its  social  and  moral  standard.  Women  of 
all  classes  voted,  but,  strange  to  say,  even  the  worst 
women  voted  for  law  and  order.  Political  parties 
found  it  necessary  to  put  up  men  with  a  good  moral 
record,  as  well  as  those  politically  sound,  for  the  women 
would  not  vote  for  a  bad  man.  All  classes  recognized 
the  good  results  of  woman  suffrage,  and  all  opposition 
to  it  ivas  speedily  overcome. 

Cheyenne  is  now  one  of  the  best  governed  and 
most  orderly  cities  in  the  country;  and  every  Governor 
of  the  Territory,  whatever  his  political  complexion, 
has  given  his  unqualified  testimony  in  favor  of  women 
at  the  polls.  Women  not  only  deposit  their  ballot* 
unmolested,  but  are  treated  with  the  utmost  courtesy, 
and  the  polling  places  are  made  comfortable,  and  even 
elegant,  for  their  reception.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing 
for  husband  and  wife  to  vote  opposing  tickets,  but  no 
divisions  or  even  disturbances  in  families  have  resulted, 
thus  far. 

On  the  first  of  July,  1867,  there  was  but  one 
house  in  Cheyenne,  standing  on  what  is  now  Eddy 


CHEYENNE.  179 

street,  between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets,  built 
of  logs,  smoothly  plastered  outside  and  in,  and  owned 
by  Judge  J.  R.  Whitehead.  Six  months  thereafter 
there  were  no  less  than  three  thousand  houses  in  the 
city.  The  first  lots  were  offered  for  sale  in  July,  1867, 
at  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Thirty  days  after- 
ward they  sold  at  one  thousand  dollars  each,  and  in 
two  or  three  months  later  for  two  thousand  five  hundred 
and  three  thousand  dollars.  Stores  were  erected  with 
marvelous  rapidity,  in  its  early  history,  a  good-sized 
and  comparatively  substantial  warehouse  being  put  up 
in  forty-eight  hours.  The  business  of  the  first  six 
mouths  was  enormous,  single  houses  making  sales  of  from 
ten  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  dollars  per  month.  In 
two  months  after  the  Post-Office  was  established,  it 
averaged  twenty-six  hundred  letters  a  day. 

As  the  railroad  progressed  westward  across  the 
mountains,  and  finally  reached  the  Pacific,  Cheyenne 
suffered  a  reaction  from  its  sudden  and  wonderful 
prosperity.  The  road  took  much  of  its  business  with  it, 
and  the  town  fell  dead.  But  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
the  Black  Hills  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  its  business 
interests.  It  is  also  located  in  the  midst  of  a  great  stock- 
raising  region,  and  is  surrounded  by  ranches  of 
stock-men  engaged  in  raising  cattle,  horses  and  sheep  for 
market.  The  cattle  and  horses  find  sustenance  the  year 
round  in  the  native  grasses,  and  Cheyenne  is  the  natural 
centre  and  trading  post  of  these  ranch-men.  Each  year 
the  business  increases,  and  the  shipments  from  the  city 
become  larger.  Wool  is  becoming  an  important  export, 
being  produced  in  great  quantities  on  the  large  sheep 
farms. 

The  railroad  has  constructed  extensive  machine  and 


180      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

repair  shops  at  Cheyenne,  which  furnish  employment 
for  a  large  number  of  workmen.  The  rickety  structures 
of  its  early  days  are  fast  giving  place  to  substantial  brick 
buildings.  There  is  a  fine  Court  House  and  Jail,  a 
City  Hall,  Opera  House,  and  several  Public  School 
buildings.  In  proportion  to  its  population,  Cheyenne 
has  now  more  substantial  and  handsome  business  nouses 
than  any  other  western  city. 

Stock  raising  is  the  only  agricultural  pursuit  for 
which  Wyoming  is  adapted.  The  soil  about  Cheyenne 
is  barren,  and  in  no  way  suited  for  farming  purposes. 
The  rainfall  during  the  year  is  very  slight,  and  it  has 
been  found  necessary  to  resort  to  irrigation.  Therefore, 
ditches  run  through  the  streets,  supplying  water  for  the 
gardens  throughout  the  city,  and,  by  means  of  this 
irrigation,  what  was  once  a  desert  is  becoming  green 
with  trees  and  shrubbery. 

The  mineral  resources  of  Wyoming  are  very  rich. 
Silver  and  gold  are  both  found  in  the  ranges  of  hills 
and  mountains  to  the  north  and  west.  Moss  agates, 
opals,  topaz,  garnets,  amethysts,  onyx  and  jasper  have 
all  been  found  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Cheyenne,  and  some  of  the  specimens  are  exceedingly 
beautiful. 

The  high  elevation  of  the  city  gives  it  a  delightful 
climate.  The  winters  are  mild,  and  the  summers  free 
from  excessive  heat. 

Cheyenne  has  a  special  niche  in  my  memory,  since, 
in  making  my  horseback  journey  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific,  in  1876,  it  was  the  last  place  at  which  I 
dined  before  entering  the  Black  Hills  and  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  treacherous  Arrapahoes. 

The  rapid  growth   which   Cheyenne   made   at    the 


CHEYENNE.  181 

beginning  of  her  existence,  and  the  feverish  activity  of 
her  business  enterprises,  have  given  place  long  since  to  a 
slower  but  more  healthy  life  and  development.  Her  trade 
interests  are  being  placed  on  a  firmer  foundation,  and 
when  the  resources  of  the  surrounding  country  are 
utilized  to  the  fullest  advantage  of  the  city,  its  pros- 
perity will  be  assured. 


CHAPTER  XL 

DETROIT. 

Detroit  and  Her  Avenues  of  Approach. — Competing  Lines. — • 
London  in  Canada. — The  Strait  and  the  Ferry. — Music  on  the 
Waters. — The  Home  of  the  Algonquins. — Teusha-grondie.^ 
Wa-we-aw-to-nong. — Fort  Ponchartrain  and  the  Early  French 
Settlers. — The  Red  Cross  of  St.  George. — Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 
— Battle  of  Bloody  Run. — The  Long  Siege. — Detroit's  First 
American  Flag. — Old  Landmarks. — The  Pontiac  Tree. — Devas- 
tation by  Fire. — Site  of  the  Modern  City. — New  City  Hall. — 
Public  Library. — Mexican  Antiquities. 

IflOUR  lines  of  railway  leading  westward  from 
I*-  Niagara  place  Buffalo  and  Detroit  en  rapport 
with  each  other,  through  their  connecting  steel  rails,  and 
compete  for  the  patronage  of  the  traveler.  In  addition 
to  this,  there  are  not  less  than  two  lines  by  water,  thus 
affording  the  tourist — if  he  develops  a  desire  to  tempt 
the  waves  of  Old  Erie — ample  scope  for  his  choice. 
The  Lake  Shore  route  takes  one  through  a  continuous 
succession  of  ever-changing  water  landscapes  on  the 
southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  intersects  the  two 
States  of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  before  reaching 
Michigan.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  preferable  route  by  rail, 
looking  at  it  from  a  purely  aesthetic  standpoint.  The 
Great  Western  Road  crosses,  at  Suspension  Bridge,  the 
famous  chasm  cut  by  Niagara,  in  its  recession  from 
Ontario,  and  gives  a  faint  conception,  as  seen  in  the 
distance,  of  the  glorious  Falls  themselves.  The  roar 
and  rush  of  water — at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  million 

182 


DETROIT.  183 

tons  per  minute — is  borne  down  the  deeply-cut  channel, 
and  clouds  of  spray  are  visible  from  the  car  windows. 
Below  the  bridge  the  swift  drifts  and  eddies  can  be  seen 
foaming  on  their  way  to  the  whirlpool,  a  mile  and  a  half 
further  down.  This  route  also  takes  the  traveler 
through  London,  Canada,  a  quaint  old  English  town  of 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  on  the  Thames  River.  The 
place  is  brimming  over  with  localities  the  names  of 
which,  carried  in  the  affections  of  her  settlers  across  the 
ocean,  serve  as  reminders  of  the  old  London  left  forever 
behind  them  on  Britannia's  Isle.  Blackfriar's  Bridge 
and  Westminster  Bridge  both  cross  the  new  Thames, 
and  Kensington  and  Covent  Garden  market  belong  also 
to  the  transplanted  nomenclature.  On  Saturdays  the 
great  square  in  the  heart  of  the  town  is  filled  with 
marketers  and  hucksters  of  all  descriptions,  and  every 
kind  of  merchandise,  from  a  feather  bed  to  a  table 
knife,  is  there  bought  and  sold.  Squaws  and  Indians 
and  quaintly  dressed  women  commingle  with  the  crowd 
and  sell  their  various  wares.  The  scene  is  very 
picturesque,  and  wears  an  atmosphere  of  being  a 
hundred  years  old. 

The  Grand  Trunk  Road — the  most  northerly  of  the 
three  routes  leading  through  Canada — has  nothing 
except  its  easy-going  time  to  recommend  it  to  favor. 
The  traveler  on  this  road  stands  a  fair  chance  of  missing 
his  connecting  links  in  the  great  railway  chain  which 
interthreads  the  continent  east  and  west,  or  of  being 
delayed  for  hours  at  a  time  by  running  off  the  rails. 
The  Canada  Southern  is  a  newly  completed  road,  and  is 
said  to  be  the  most  direct  and  shortest  of  all  the  com- 
peting lines.  This  route  follows  the  windings  of  the 
northern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  just  opposite  from  the  Lake 


184      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Shore  Road  on  the  southern  side,  and  the  shifting  land- 
scapes are  perhaps  quite  as  full  of  natural  beauty. 

Detroit,  the  fair  "  City  of  the  Strait,"  spreads  itself 
along  the  river  front  for  miles,  and  the  approach  from 
Windsor,  on  the  opposite  shore,  is  suggestive  of  the  pic- 
tured lagoons  of  Venice,  Queen  of  the  Adriatic.  The 
Detroit  River,  or  strait,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  water 
avenues  west  of  the  Hudson.  It  is  from  half  a  mile  to 
a  mile  wide,  is  always  of  a  clear  green  color,  and  is  never 
troubled  by  sand  bars  or  anything  which  might  affect  its 
navigation.  It  has  an  average  depth  of  twenty-five 
feet  at  the  wharves  and  perhaps  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  the 
centre  of  the  river  bed.  No  floods  disturb  its  calm  flow 
or  change  the  pervading  green  of  its  waters.  It  is,  with 
reason,  the  pride  of  the  city,  and  the  ferry  boats  of  the 
several  lines  plying  between  Detroit  and  Windsor  are 
of  the  most  attractive  type.  In  summer  a  corps  of 
musicians  are  engaged  for  the  regular  trips,  and  are  con- 
sidered as  indispensable  to  the  boat's  outfit  as  the  captain 
or  pilot.  Their  syren  strains  entice  the  lounger  at  the 
wharf,  and  he  may  ride  all  day,  if  he  chooses,  for  the  sum 
of  ten  cents.  Whole  families  spend  the  day  on  the  river, 
in  this  way,  taking  their  dinner  in  baskets,  as  they  would 
go  to  a  picnic.  The  people  of  Detroit,  perhaps,  inherit 
the  pleasure-loving  characteristics  of  their  French  ances- 
tors, or  at  least  they  do  not  seem  to  have  their  minds 
exclusively  concentrated  on  the  struggle  after  the  al- 
mighty dollar. 

Detroit,  as  the  principal  mart  of  the  Peninsular  State 
— the  nucleus  which  gradually  crystallized  into  the  heart 
of  Michigan — has  an  early  history  of  thrilling  interest; 
the  site  of  the  present  populous  city  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  souls  was  long  ago,  in  the  shadowy 


DETROIT.  185 

years  of  its  Indian  lore,  the  home  of  a  dusky  tribe  of 
the  Algonquin  family — a  race  which  was  once  as  popu- 
lous and  widespread  as  the  waves  of  the  ocean. 

In  1610  the  first  white  man  who  set  foot  on  these  wild 
and  unexplored  shores  found  it  occupied  by  the  clustered 
wigwams  of  a  peaceful  Indian  village  named  Teuaha- 
yrondie. 

"Beside  that  broad  but  gentle  tide 

****** 
Whose  waters  creep  along  the  shore 
Ere  long  to  swell  Niagara's  roar, 
Here,  quiet,  stood  an  Indian  village ; 

Unknown  its  origin  or  date  ; 
Algonquin  huts  and  rustic  tillage, 

Where  stands  the  City  of  the  Strait. 

****** 
From  dark  antiquity  it  came, 
In  myths  and  dreamy  ages  cast." 

Another  of  its  ancient  names  was  "  Wa-we-aw-to- 
nong,"  meaning  round  by,  in  allusion  to  its  circuitous 
way  of  approach. 

"No  savage  home,  however  rare, 

If  told  in  legend  or  in  song, 
Could  with  that  charming  spot  compare, 
The  lovely  Wa-we-aw-to-nong." 

In  1679,  the  Griffin,  under  La  Salle — the  first  vessel 
that  ever  sailed  these  inland  seas — anchored  off  the 
group  of  islands  at  the  entrance  to  Detroit  River.  Peace- 
ful Indian  tribes  were  scattered  along  the  banks,  and  the 
white  man  was  received  with  friendly  overtures. 

In  1701,  La  Motte  Cadillac  founded  Detroit.  He 
erected  a  military  fort  on  the  site  of  the  future  city, 
which  he  named  after  his  French  patron,  Pontchartrain. 
It  was  surrounded  by  a  strong  stockade  of  wooden 
pickets,  with  bastions  at  each  angle.  A  few  log  huts 


186      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

with  thatched  roofs  of  straw  and  grass  were  built  within 
the  enclosure,  and  as  the  number  of  settlers  increased 
the  stockade  was  enlarged,  until  it  included  about  a 
hundred  houses  closely  crowded  together.  The  streets 
were  very  narrow,  with  the  exception  of  a  wide  carriage 
road  or  boulevard  which  encircled  the  town  just  within 
the  palisades.  The  object  of  the  establishment  of  this 
military  post  was  to  aid  in  securing  to  the  French  the 
large  fur  trade  of  the  northwest,  and  it  was  also  a  point 
from  whence  the  early  Jesuit  fathers  extended  their 
missionary  labors. 

The  little  military  colony  was  the  centre  of  the  settle- 
ment, and  the  Canadian  dwellings  were  scattered  up  and 
down  the  banks  above  and  below  the  fort  for  miles. 
The  river  almost  washed  the  foot  of  the  stockade — 
Woodbridge  street  being  at  that  time  the  margin  of  the 
water — and  three  large  Indian  villages  were  within  the 
limits  of  the  settlement.  Below  the  fort  were  the 
lodges  of  the  Pottawattomies,  on  the  eastern  shore  dwelt 
the  Wyandots,  and  higher  up  Pontiac  and  the  Ottawas 
had  pitched  their  wigwams. 

Fort  Pontchartrain  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
French  until  1760,  when,  by  the  fall  of  Quebec,  it  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  British,  and  was  surrendered  to 
Major  Robert  Rogers  on  the  twelfth  of  September.  The 
Red  Cross  of  St.  George  now  supplanted  the  Fleur-de- 
lis  of  France,  and  the  change  to  British  rule  was  illy 
relished  by  the  surrounding  Indian  tribes,  who  had 
been  the  firm  friends  and  allies  of  the  French.  The 
well  known  Pontiac  conspiracy  grew  out  of  this  change 
of  administration,  and  a  general  massacre  of  the  whites 
was  determined  upon.  Pontiac,  chief  of  the  Ottawas, 
was  the  leading  spirit  of  the  bloody  plot,  and  so  well 


DETROIT.  187 

laid  were  his  plans  that  ten  out  of  the  thirteen  posts 
which  were  simultaneously  attacked  fell  before  their 
savage  onsets.  The  post  at  Detroit,  at  that  time  under 
command  of  Major  Gladwyn,  was  only  saved  through 
the  timely  betrayal  of  Pontiac's  plot,  by  Catherine,  a 
beautiful  Ojibway  girl,  who  dwelt  in  the  village  of  the 
Pottawattomies,  and  who  had  become  much  attached  to 
Major  Gladwyn,  of  the  Fort.  The  day  before  the 
intended  massacre  she  brought  him  a  pair  of  moccasins 
which  she  had  made  for  him,  and  then  revealed  the 
intended  surprise  of  Pontiac.  The  garrison  and  occu- 
pants of  the  fort  were  supported  by  two  small  vessels, 
the  Beaver  and  the  Gladwyn,  which  lay  anchored  in 
the  river. 

On  the  morning  of  May  sixth,  1763,  a  large  flotilla  of 
birch  canoes,  filled  with  warriors  lying  flat  on  their  faces, 
crossed  the  river  above  the  Fort,  landing  just  beyond 
the  banks  of  Bloody  Run,  or  Parent's  Creek,  as  it  was 
then  called.  About  ten  o'clock,  sixty  chiefs,  with 
Pontiac  at  their  head,  marched  to  the  Fort  and 
demanded  admittance.  It  was  granted,  but  all  prepara- 
tion was  made  on  the  part  of  Gladwyn  to  repel  the  first 
sign  of  treachery.  Every  soldier  was  armed  to  the 
teeth,  and  the  eagle  eye  of  Gladwyn  watched  every 
movement  of  Pontiac,  as  that  brave  made  a  speech 
of  mock  friendship.  When  the  savages  discovered  the 
failure  of  their  plans,  their  disappointed  rage  knew  no 
bounds,  and  after  passing  out  of  the  gates  of  the  Fort, 
their  mad  thirst  for  blood  was  only  glutted  by  mas- 
sacres of  isolated  families,  and  the  tomahawk  and 
scalping  knife  sealed  the  doom  of  many  an  unhappy 
victim  who  that  day  crossed  the  path  of  Pontiac's 
warriors. 


188      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

From  this  hour  Detroit  was  in  a  state  of  siege,  and 
for  eleven  long  months  the  siege  continued.  Bravely 
the  little  band  at  the  Fort  held  out  until  reinforcements 
arrived — Captain  Dalzell,  with  a  force  of  three  hundred 
regulars,  coming  to  their  aid.  A  few  days  afterwards 
— at  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  thirty-first — 
an  attack  was  made  on  the  Indians,  who  were  stationed 
along  the  banks  of  Parent's  Creek,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  Fort.  The  troops  neared  the  narrow, 
wooden  bridge  which  spanned  the  creek,  when  sud- 
denly, in  the  gloom  of  night,  the  Indian  war-whoop 
burst  on  their  ears,  and  a  blaze  of  leaden  death  followed. 
Captain  Dalzell  rushed  to  the  front  across  the  bridge, 
leading  his  men  forward,  but  their  foes  were  not  to  be 
seen. 

Bewildered  in  the  gloom,  the  English  troops  were 
obliged  to  fall  back  to  the  fort  and  wait  for  daylight 
before  renewing  the  attack.  Hundreds  of  Indians  lay 
in  ambuscade  along  the  river,  whither  the  soldiers  were 
obliged  to  pass  on  their  way  to  the  Fort,  and  the  creek 
ran  red  with  their  blood.  The  waters  of  the  little 
stream,  after  this  crimson  baptism,  were  re-christened 
with  the  name  of  Bloody  Run.  The  survivors  entered 
the  Fort  next  morning  with  a  loss  of  seventy  killed  and 
forty  wounded. 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  Detroit  was  sub- 
jected to  greater  annoyance  from  Indian  tribes  than 
before,  but  this  was  the  only  way  in  which  the  war 
affected  it.  Through  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  made 
by  General  Wayne  with  the  red  men,  in  August,  1795, 
Detroit  and  all  the  region  of  the  northwest  became  the 
property  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1796  Captain 
Porter,  from  General  Wayne's  army,  took  possession  of 


DETROIT.  189 

the  post,  and  flung  to  the  breeze  the  first  American 
banner  that  ever  floated  over  the  soil  of  the  Peninsular 
State. 

"Pontiac's  Grate"  was  the  eastern  entrance  to  the 
town,  and  occupies  the  site  of  the  old  United  States 
Court  House.  In  1763,  a  rude  chapel  stood  on  the 
north  side  of  St.  Ann  street — nearly  in  the  middle  of 
the  present  Jefferson  avenue — while  opposite  was  a 
large  military  garden,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood  a 
block  house,  where  all  the  councils  with  the  Indians 
were  held.  These  were  the  only  public  buildings  in 
the  town. 

The  "Pontiac  Tree,"  behind  which  many  a  soldier 
took  shelter  on  the  night  of  the  bloody  battle  at  Parent's 
Creek,  and  whose  bark  is  fabled  to  have  been  thickly 
pierced  with  bullets,  stood  as  an  old  landmark  for  years, 
on  the  site  of  the  ancient  field  of  conflict,  and  many  a 
stirring  legend  is  told  of  it. 

On  June  eleventh,  1805 — just  five  months  after 
Michigan  was  organized  as  a  territory — Detroit  was 
laid  in  ruins  by  a  wholesale  conflagration,  which  left 
only  two  houses  unharmed.  An  act  of  Congress  was 
passed  for  her  relief,  and  thus,  through  baptisms  of  fire 
and  blood,  and  through  tribulation,  has  she  arisen  to  her 
present  proud  estate.  The  stranger  landing  on  these 
shores  now  is  struck  with  the  handsome  general 
appearance  of  the  city — its  clean,  wide  streets,  varying 
in  width  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet — its  elegant 
business  blocks  and  pervading  air  of  enterprise.  The 
ground  on  which  the  city  stands  rises  gradually 
from  the  river  to  an  elevation  of  thirty  or  forty  feet, 
thus  affording  both  a  commanding  prospect  and  excellent 
drainage.  Detroit  is  an  authorized  port  of  entry,  and  is 


190      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

about  seven  miles  distant  from  Lake  St.  Glair  and  eighteen 
miles  from  Lake  Erie.  Ship  and  boat  building  has 
been  an  extensive  branch  of  business  here,  and  in  1859 
there  were  nine  steam  saw  mills  located  in  the  city, 
sawing  forty  million  feet  of  lumber  annually.  There 
are  also  works  for  smelting  copper  ore  two  miles  below 
the  city,  or  rather  within  that  suburban  portion  of  the 
city  known  as  Hamtramck. 

Among  the  first  objects  of  interest  which  attract  the 
stranger's  attention  are  the  new  City  Hall  and  the 
Soldiers'  Monument.  The  City  Hall,  fronting  on  one 
side  of  the  square  known  as  the  Campus  Martius,  is  a 
structure  of  which  any  city  in  the  land  might  be  proud. 
It  is  built  of  Cleveland  sandstone,  and  faces  on  four 
streets, — being  two  hundred  feet  long  on  Woodward 
avenue  and  Griswold  street,  with  a  width  of  ninety 
feet  on  Fort  street  and  Michigan  avenue. 

It  is  built  in  the  style  of  the  Italian  renaissance, 
with  Mansard  roof  and  a  tower  rising  from  the  centre 
of  the  building,  adorned  at  its  four  corners  with  co- 
lossal figures  fourteen  feet  high,  representing  "  Justice" 
" Industry"  " Arts"  and  "  Commerce."  Its  height 
from  the  ground  to  the  top  of  the  tower  is  a  hundred 
and  eighty  feet,  and  the  three  ample  stories  above  the 
basement  furnish  accommodation  to  the  city  and  county 
offices,  in  addition  to  the  Circuit  and  Recorder's  Courts. 
The  walls  are  frescoed,  the  floors  laid  in  mosaics  of 
colored  marbles,  and  the  Council  Chamber  and  other 
public  rooms  are  furnished  with  black  walnut  chairs 
and  desks,  and  paneled  in  oak.  With  these  exceptions, 
there  is  no  woodwork  about  the  immense  building. 
Everything,  from  basement  to  dome,  is  brick  and  iron 
and  stone.  Even  the  floors  are  built  in  delicate  arches 


DETROIT.  191 

of  brick  and  iron,  and  iron  staircases  follow  the  wind- 
ings of  the  tower  to  its  dizzy  top.  It  is  reckoned  fire- 
proof. The  exterior  is  curiously  carved,  and  two  large 
fountains  adorn  the  inclosing  grounds.  The  estimated 
cost  of  the  building  is  about  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

From  the  airy  outlook  of  the  City  Hall  Tower, 
Detroit  appears  like  a  vast  wheel,  many  of  whose  streets 
diverge  like  spokes  from  this  common  centre,  reaching 
outward  until  they  touch,  or  seem  to  touch,  the  wooded 
rim  of  the  distant  horizon.  The  hub  of  this  wheel  is 
the  triangular  public  square  called  the  Campus 
Martius,  and  the  Soldiers'  Monument,  occupying  the 
centre  of  the  Campus  Martius,  is  also  the  centre  of 
this  imaginary  hub.  Michigan  avenue — one  of  the 
long  arms  of  the  wheel — loses  itself  in  the  western 
distance,  and  is  called  the  Chicago  road.  Woodward 
avenue  leads  into  the  interior,  toward  Pontiac,  and 
Gratiot  avenue  goes  in  the  direction  of  Port  Huron. 
Fort  street,  in  yet  another  direction,  guides  the  eye  to 
Fort  Wayne  and  the  steeples  of  Sandwich,  four  miles 
away.  Toward  the  southern  or  river  side  of  the  city, 
the  resemblance  to  the  wheel  is  nearly  lost,  and  one  sees 
nothing  but  compact  squares  of  blocks,  cut  by  streets 
crossing  each  other  at  right  angles  and  running  parallel 
and  perpendicular  to  the  river.  Between  the  Campus 
Martius  and  Grand  Circus  Park  there  are  half  a  dozen 
or  more  short  streets,  which  form  a  group  by  themselves, 
and  break  in  somewhat  on  the  symmetry  of  the  larger 
wheel,  without  destroying  it.  This  point  gives  the  best 
view  of  Detroit  to  be  obtained  anywhere  about  the  city. 

The  Soldiers'  Monument  is  a  handsome  granite 
structure,  fifty-five  feet  in  height,  the  material  of  which 


192      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

was  quarried  from  the  granite  beds  of  Westerly,  Rhode 
Island,  and  modeled  into  shape  under  the  superintend- 
ing genius  of  Randolph  Rogers,  of  Rome,  Italy.  It  is 
surmounted  by  a  massive  allegorical  statue,  in  bronze,  of 
Michigan,  and  figures  of  the  soldier  and  sailor,  in  the 
same  material,  adorn  the  four  projections  of  the 
monument ;  while  bronze  eagles  with  spread  wings  are 
perched  on  smaller  pedestals  in  the  intermediate  spaces. 
Large  medallions,  also  in  bronze,  with  the  busts  of 
Grant,  Lincoln,  Sherman  and  Farragut,  in  low  relief, 
cover  the  four  sides  of  the  main  shaft,  and  higher  up 
the  following  inscription  is  imprinted  against  the  white 
background  of  granite : — 

"  ERECTED  BY  THE  PEOPLE  OF  MICHIGAN 
IN  HONOR  OF  THE  MARTYRS  WHO  FELL 

AND  THE  HEROES  WHO  FOUGHT 
IN  DEFENCE  OF  LIBERTY  AND  UNION." 

The  bronzes  and  ornaments  were  imported  from  the 
celebrated  foundry  at  Munich,  Bavaria,  and  the  cost  of 
the  monument — donated  exclusively  by  private  sub- 
scription— amounted  to  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars. 
The  unveiling  of  the  statue  took  place  April  ninth, 
1872. 

Another  feature  of  the  city  is  the  Public  Library, 
founded  in  March,  1865,  and  at  present  occupying  the 
old  Capitol,  until  the  new  and  elegant  Library  building 
now  in  process  of  construction  is  completed. 

Beginning  entirely  without  funds,  ten  years  ago,  it 
can  now  exhibit  a  muster  roll  of  twenty-five  thousand 
volumes,  and  is  fairly  started  on  the  high  road  to 
fortune.  There  is  a  kind  of  poetic  justice  in  the  fact 
that  its  principal  source  of  revenue  accrues  from  county 
fines  and  penalties.  Here  is  a  knotty  question  for  the 


DETROIT.  193 

divinity  doctors,  for  in  this  case,  at  least,  good  is  born  of 
evil.  The  library  is  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  and  was  given  an  existence  from  the  State 
constitution.  Some  very  rare  volumes  of  Mexican 
antiquities  have  recently  been  purchased  from  England 
by  the  School  Board  and  added  to  the  library,  at  a  cost 
of  four  hundred  dollars.  They  contain  a  pictorial  and 
hieroglyphic  history  of  the  Aztec  races  occupying 
Mexico  when  Cortes  came  over  from  a  foreign  shore 
with  his  Spanish  galleons.  The  earliest  date  goes  back 
to  1324,  and  the  strange  figures  in  the  centre  of  the  page 
are  surrounded  by  devices  indicating  cycles  of  thirteen 
years,  four  of  which  made  a  great  cycle,  or  a  period  of 
fifty-two  years.  The  deeds  of  the  Aztec  king,  Tenuch, 
and  his  successors,  are  here  recorded,  and  through  the 
efforts  of  an  English  nobleman  who  devoted  his  life  to 
these  researches,  we  have  the  translation  rendered  for  us. 

The  city  has  a  scientific  association,  two  years  old,  and 
also  a  Historical  Society,  in  which  her  citizens  manifest 
considerable  pride. 

Detroit  has  been  called,  with  reason,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  cities  of  the  West.  Transformed  from  the 
ancient  Teushagrondie  into  the  present  populous  "City 
of  the  Strait,"  she  sits  like  a  happy  princess,  serene,  on 
the  banks  of  her  broad  river,  guarding  the  gates  of  St. 
Clair.  Backed  by  a  State  whose  resources  are  second  to 
none  in  the  Union,  emerging  from  an  early  history  of 
bloody  struggle  and  battle,  rising  like  the  fabled 
Phoenix,  from  the  ashes  of  an  apparent  ruin,  contributing 
her  best  blood  and  treasure  to  the  war  for  liberty  and 
union,  she  may  well  be  proud  of  her  past  record,  her 
present  progress,  her  advancement  toward  a  high 
civilization  and  her  assured  position. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ERIE. 

Decoration  Day  in  Pennsylvania. — Lake  Erie. — Natural  Advan- 
tages of  Erie. — Her  Harbor,  Commerce  and  Manufactures. — 
Streets  and  Public  Buildings. — Soldiers'  Monument. — Erie 
Cemetery. — East  and  West  Parks. — Perry's  Victory. 

I  TOOK  my  fourth  ride  from  Buffalo  westward,  on 
the  Lake  Shore  Road,  on  the  afternoon  of  May 
twenty-ninth,  1875,  the  day  set  apart  that  year  by  the 
patriotic  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  decoration  of 
her  soldiers'  graves.  Passing  the  State  line  or  boundary 
between  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  a  little  beyond 
Dunkirk,  an  unusually  large  assembly  of  citizens  and 
soldiers,  with  bouquets  and  a  great  profusion  of  flowers, 
at  nearly  every  station,  betokened  the  earnest  patriotism 
of  the  old  Keystone  State.  Pennsylvania  will  never 
be  behind  her  sister  States  in  doing  honor  to  the  brave 
men  who  gave  up  their  lives  while  fighting  her  battles; 
and  the  demonstrations  of  each  Decoration  Day  are 
evidences  that  she  will  not  soon  forget  their  deeds,  or 
their  claim  upon  her  deepest  gratitude. 

A  beautiful  sight  opens  to  the  view  of  the  tourist  as 
he  turns  his  eye  toward  the  broad,  blue  expanse  of  the 
lake,  which  may  be  seen  at  intervals  from  the  car 
windows,  from  Buffalo  to  Toledo.  The  mind  is  quite 
naturally  occupied  with  grand  commercial  schemes,  on 
viewing  such  wonderful  facilities  for  the  promotion  of 
enterprise.  We  have  here,  in  Lake  Erie,  the  connecting 
link  in  a  chain  of  fresh-water  oceans,  which  stretch  from 
'  194 


ERIE.  195 

the  Atlantic,  westward,  almost  to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Our  internal  prosperity  is  largely  due  to  this  great  chain 
of  lakes,  which  secure  and  facilitate  cheap  transportation, 
and  have  made  possible  the  great  inland  cities,  the  pride 
of  our  Middle  States. 

Erie  is  an  intermediate  point  between  Buffalo  and 
Cleveland,  and  having  a  most  excellent  harbor,  would 
seem  destined  to  take  rank  among  the  first  cities  of 
America.  But  by  that  inscrutable  law  which,  seemingly 
beyond  reason,  governs  and  controls  the  foundation 
and  growth  of  cities  and  towns,  natural  advantages  do 
not  always  seem  to  count ;  and  as  a  large  fish  swallows 
a  smaller  one,  so  has  Erie  been  dwarfed  by  her  older 
rivals,  who,  getting  an  earlier  foothold  upon  the  shore 
of  the  lake,  have  absorbed  its  trade,  and  continued  to 
maintain  the  advantage  they  at  first  secured.  An 
increase  of  commerce  on  Lake  Erie  will  undoubtedly 
throw  a  share  to  the  city  of  Erie,  and  thus  she  may 
eventually  succeed  in  occupying  the  position  to  which 
her  harbor  and  railroads  entitle  her. 

Erie  is  on  the  lake,  about  midway  of  the  brief  stretch 
of  shore  which  the  narrow  section  of  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, jutting  up  between  New  York  and  Ohio,  secures 
to  that  State.  It  is  her  only  lake  town  of  any  importance, 
is  a  port  of  entry,  and  has  a  population  of  nearly  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  harbor  is  the  largest  and 
best  on  Lake  Erie.  It  is  about  four  miles  in  length, 
one  mile  in  width,  and  in  depth  varying  from  nine  to 
twenty-five  feet,  thus  permitting  access  to  the  largest 
lake  vessels.  It  is  formed  by  an  island  four  miles  in 
length,  which  lies  in  front  of  the  city,  and  which,  from 
its  name  of  Presque  Isle,  indicates  that  within  the 
memory  of  man  it  has  been  a  peninsula.  The  bay  is 


196       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

known  as  Presque  Isle  Bay.  It  is  protected  by  a 
breakwater,  and  three  lighthouses  guard  the  entrance. 
Several  large  docks,  furnished  with  railroad  tracks, 
permit  the  transfer  of  merchandise  to  take  place 
directly  between  the  vessels  and  the  cars.  The  terminus 
of  the  Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad,  and  connected 
by  the  Lake  Shore  Railroad  with  all  important  points 
in  the  east  and  west,  the  city  is  fast  developing  into  a 
strong  commercial  centre.  A  canal  connecting  with 
Beaver  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  facilitates 
commerce  in  the  western  section  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
furnishes  extensive  water-power,  of  which  various  kinds 
of  mills  avail  themselves.  These  mills  and  the  many 
factories  and  foundries  of  the  city — for  Erie  is  a  manu- 
facturing town  of  considerable  importance — produce 
iron  ware,  cars,  machinery,  organs,  furniture,  brass, 
leather,  boots  and  shoes,  and  send  them,  by  the  various 
methods  of  transportation,  to  markets  in  the  States  and 
Canada.  The  great  forest  and  mining  regions  of 
Pennsylvania  find,  at  Erie,  an  outlet  for  their  lumber, 
coal  and  iron  ore .;  while  the  numerous  productive  farms 
which  lie  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lake  send  quantities  of 
grain  to  be  shipped  at  this  port. 

The  city  is  built  upon  an  elevated  bluff,  commanding 
an  extensive  view  of  the  lake.  It. is  regularly  laid  out, 
with  broad  streets  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles, 
and  its  general  appearance  is  prosperous  and  pleasing. 
In  the  centre  of  the  city  is  the  Park,  a  finely  shaded 
inclosure,  intersected  by  State  street,  and  surrounded  by 
handsome  buildings.  A  Soldiers'  Monument  stands  in 
the  Park,  erected  to  commemorate  the  memory  of  the 
brave  men  who  fell  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  It  is 
surmounted  by  two  bronze  statues  of  heroic  size.  There 


ERIE.  197 

are  also  two  handsome  fountains  within  the  Park  inclo- 
sure.  Near  by  is  the  classic  structure  used  as  a  Court 
House.  The  Custom  House  is  erected  in  a  substantial 
style,  near  the  shores  of  the  lake.  A  new  Opera  House 
is  also  one  of  the  features  of  the  city.  The  Union 
Depot  is  an  immense  building,  nearly  five  hundred  feet 
in  length,  in  the  Romanesque  style,  two  stories  in  height 
and  surmounted  by  a  cupola  forty  feet  high.  State 
street  is  the  principal  business  thoroughfare. 

The  Erie  Cemetery,  in  Chestnut  street,  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  in  the  country.  It  is  on  a  high  bluff 
overlooking  the  lake,  and  comprises  seventy-five  acres, 
in  which  tree-shaded  walks,  elegant  drives,  velvet 
turf,  running  water,  masses  of  shrubbery  and  brilliant 
flowers,  together  with  the  plain  white  headstones  and 
the  elaborate  monuments  which  mark  the  resting-places 
of  the  dead,  are  united  in  a  harmonious  effect,  which  is 
most  satisfactory  to  the  beholder.  Erie  is  very  proud 
of  this  cemetery,  and  spares  no  pains  to  perfect  it,  while 
every  year  adds  to  its  beauty. 

East  and  West  Parks  lie,  as  their  names  indicate,  in 
opposite  directions  within  the  city,  and  are  beautiful 
breathing  places  where  its  citizens  resort  for  rest  and 
recreation.  Art  has  joined  with  nature  in  rendering 
these  places  attractive,  and  their  trees,  shrubbery,  lawns, 
walks  and  drives,  and  general  picturesqueness,  combine 
to  make  them  very  charming  spots. 

Erie  has  historical  associations  which  render  her  of 
interest  to  one  who  would  gather  facts  concerning  his 
country.  Lake  Erie  was  the  scene  of  a  naval  engage- 
ment between  the  British  and  Americans,  on  September 
tenth,  1813,  in  which  the  latter  were  victorious. 
Commodore  Perry,  in  command  of  the  American  fleetr 


198      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

sailed  from  this  port  on  the  memorable  day,  and  when 
the  engagement  was  concluded,  brought  thither  his 
prizes.  Several  of  his  ships  sunk  in  Lawrence  Bay, 
and  in  fair  weather  the  hull  of  the  Niagara  is  still 
visible. 

The  development  of  Western  Pennsylvania  is  con- 
tributing more  and  more,  as  the  years  go  by,  to 
the  prosperity  of  Erie.  Her  exceptionally  fine  harbor 
is  already  beginning  to  be  recognized  by  commerce, 
and  though  the  city  may  never  rival  Cleveland  or 
Buffalo,  the  time  may  come  when  Erie  will  take  rank 
as  only  second  to  them  on  Lake  Erie,  in  commercial 
importance. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HARRISBURG. 

An  Historic  Tree. — John  Harris'  Wild  Adventure  with  the  In- 
dians.— Harris  Park. — History  of  Harrisburg. — Situation  and 
Surroundings. — State  House. — State  Library. — An  Historic  Flag. 
— View  from  State  House  Dome. — Capitol  Park. — Monument  to 
Soldiers  of  Mexican  War. — Monument  to  Soldiers  of  Late  War. 
— Public  Buildings. — Front  Street. — Bridges  over  the  Susque- 
hanna. — Mt.  Kalmiu  Cemetery. — Present  Advantages  and  Future 
Prospects  of  Harrisburg. 

A  CENTURY  and  a  half  ago,  John  Harris,  seeking 
1\.  traffic  with  the  red  men  of  the  Susquehanna, 
built  a  rude  hut,  dug  a  well,  and  thereby  began  a  work 
which,  taken  up  by  his  son,  led  to  the  founding  of  the 
Capital  City  of  Pennsylvania,  a  city  destined  to  take 
rank  among  the  first  of  a  great  State.  The  stump  of 
an  old  tree,  in  a  beautiful  little  park  which  skirts  the 
Susquehanna,  on  a  line  parallel  with  Front  street, 
marks  the  scene  of  an  early  adventure  of  Harris  with 
the  Indians,  and  tells  the  stranger  of  his  birth  and 
death.  About  1718  or  1719,  Harris,  who  had  settled 
at  this  point  on  the  Susquehanna,  as  a  trader,  was 
visited  by  a  predatory  band  of  Indians  returning  from 
the  "  Patowmark,"  who  made  an  exchange  of  goods  with 
him,  for  rum.  Becoming  drunken  and  riotous,  he  finally 
refused  them  any  more,  liquor,  when  they  seized  him 
and  bound  him  to  a  tree,  dancing  around  their  captive, 
until  he  thought  his  last  day  had  come.  His  negro 
servant,  however,  summoned  some  friendly  Shawnees 
from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  who,  after  a  slight 

199 


200      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN' CITIES. 

struggle  with  the  drunken  Indians,  rescued  Harris  from 
his  bonds  and  probably  from  a  death  by  torture.  The 
stump  referred  to  is  that  of  the  historical  tree,  which  was 
a  gigantic  mulberry,  eleven  feet  seven  inches  in  circum- 
ference. Here  also  is  the  grave  of  Harris,  which  is 
'surrounded  by  a  strong  iron  fence,  and  a  young  mulberry 
tree  has  been  planted,  by  one  of  his  descendants,  to  take 
the  place  of  the  one  whose  trunk  alone'  stands  as  a 
monument  of  the  past. 

During  the  summer  months  this  romantic  spot  is  the 
favorite  resort  of  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  whenever  the  weather  is  favorable,  a  large  troop  of 
juveniles  may  be  seen  spinning  their  tops,  rolling  their 
hoops  and  playing  at  croquet  on  the  lawn.  What  a 
contrast  is  here  unfolded  to  the  imagination,  as  we  stand 
at  the  grave  of  the  venerable  pioneer,  and  contemplate 
the  wonderful  change  that  has  characterized  the  progress 
of  events  during  the  past  hundred  years.  But  little 
more  than  a  century  ago  there  was  a  solitary  trader 
with  his  family  upon  the  borders  of  a  great  river  in  the 
wilderness.  His  goods  were  brought  on  a  pack-horse, 
and  his  ferry  was  a  row  boat.  To-day  a  thriving, 
beautiful  city  takes  the  place  of  the  log  cabin  ;  children 
sport  where  once  the  treacherous  Indian  sought  the  life 
of  the  hardy  frontiersman ;  the  river  is  spanned  by 
wonderful  bridges;  and  a  hundred  railroad  trains  pass 
through  its  streets  in  the  course  of  twenty-four  hours. 

Harrisburg  was  laid  out  by  John  Harris,  Jr.,  the 
son  of  the  pioneer,  in  1785;  it  was  incorporated  as  a 
borough  in  1791;  became  the  State  Capital  in  1812; 
and  received  a  city  charter  in  1860.  Its  population  in 
1880  numbered  more  than  thirty  thousand  persons. 

Harrisburg   is   most   picturesquely  situated,  on  the 


HARRISBURG.  201 

Susquehanna  River,  at  the  eastern  gateway  of  the 
Alleghenies.  The  river  is  here  a  mile  wide,  shallow  at 
most  seasons  of  the  year,  but  capable  of  becoming  a 
turbulent  torrent,  carrying  destruction  along  its  banks. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  to  the  south  are  the 
Conestoga' Hills;  while  to  the  northward  are  the  bold 
and  craggy  outlines  of  the  Kittatinny  or  Blue  Moun- 
tains. But  five  miles  away  is  the  gap  in  these  mountains 
through  which  the  Susquehanua  forces  its  way,  and  the 
summits  of  these  sentinels  are  plainly  visible.  Although 
on  the  very  threshold  of  the  mountainous  region  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  pastoral  beauty  of  landscape  which 
characterizes  eastern  Pennsylvania  creeps  up  to  meet 
the  ruggedness  which  predominates  beyond;  and  the 
two  are  here  blended  with  most  charming  results ;  the 
softness  of  the  one  half  veiling  the  ruggedness  of  the 
other;  while  the  picturesqueness  of  each  is  heightened 
by  contrast. 

The  handsomest  and  most  noticeable  building  of 
Harrisburg  is  the  State  House,  which  is  conspicuously 
placed  on  an  eminence  near  the  centre  of  the  city.  It 
is  T-shaped,  having  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  by  eighty  in  depth,  and  with  an  extension  of  one 
hundred  and  five  feet  by  fifty-four  feet.  It  is  built  of 
brick,  and  is  three  stories  high,  including  the  basement. 
A  large  circular  portico,  sustained  by  six  Ionic  columns, 
fronts  the  main  entrance.  The  building  is  surmounted 
by  a  dome,  reaching  an  altitude  of  one  hundred  and 
eight  feet.  A  State  Library,  with  accommodations  for 
one  hundred  thousand  volumes,  and  possessing  at  the 
present  time  thirty  thousand  volumes,  is  one  of^  the 
features  of  the  Capitol.  This  library  contains  a  number 
of  portraits,  .curiosities  and  art  treasures,  prominent 


202      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

among  which  are  two  small  portraits  of  Columbus  and 
Americus  Vespucius,  the  work  of  a  celebrated  Floren- 
tine artist;  a  picture  of  the  event  already  narrated  in 
the  life  of  John  Harris;  and  a  reflecting  telescope, 
purchased  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  through  which 
was  taken  the  first  observation  in  the  western  hemis- 
phere, of  the  transit  of  Venus. 

In  the  Flag  Room  of  the  State  House,  where  are 
preserved  the  Pennsylvania  State  flags  used  by  the 
different  regimental  organizations  in  the  war  for  the 
Union,  is  a  flag  captured  by  the  Confederates  at  Gettys- 
burg, and  afterwards  recaptured  in  the  baggage  of  Jeff. 
Davis.  We  find  the  following  brief  account  of  the 
capture  of  this  flag  in  the  "  Harrisburg  Visitors'  Guide," 
prepared  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Orwig,  Assistant  State  Librarian, 
to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  favors  in  our  literary 
work.  "  It  was  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day;  all  the 
color  guard  were  killed,  the  last  being  Corporal  Joseph 
Gutelius,  of  Mifflinburg,  Union  County.  When  sur- 
rounded, and  almost  alone,  he  was  commanded  to 
surrender  the  flag.  His  mute  reply  was  to  enfold  it  in 
his  arms,  and  he  was  instantly  shot  dead  through  its 
silken  folds."  He  lies  buried  at  Gettysburg. 

The  view  from  the  State  House  dome  is  exceptionally 
grand.  I  stood  on  that  eminence  one  bright  morning, 
during  the  early  part  of  my  sojourn  at  Harrisburg,  in 
the  spring  of  1877.  To  eastward  is  a  picturesque, 
rolling  country,  varied  by  hill  and  dale,  field  and  wood- 
land, with  villages  or  isolated  farmhouses  nestling  here 
and  there  in  their  midst,  the  brilliant  green  tint  of  the 
foreground  melting  imperceptibly  away  into  the  soft 
purple  haze  of  the  far  distance.  In  front  of  the  city 
to  the  westward  lies  the  broad  river,  gleaming  like  a 


HARRISBURG.  20S 

ribbon  of  silver  in  the  sunlight,  dotted  with  emerald 
islands,  and  winding  away  to  the  southeast,  between 
sloping  banks  and  rocky  crags,  until  it  at  last  loses  itself 
in  the  misty  horizon.  To  the  northward  is  distinctly 
seen  the  gap  in  the  mountains  through  which  the  river 
approaches  the  city.  The  bold  and  abrupt  outlines  of 
the  mountains  are  plainly  traced,  and  the  scenery  in 
this  region  is  exceptionally  grand.  Immediately  sur- 
rounding the  State  House  is  the  city,  spread  out  with  its 
labyrinth  of  streets,  its  factories  and  furnaces,  its  stately 
public  buildings,  and  its  elegant  private  residences, 
presenting  a  panorama  fair  to  look  upon,  and  evidencing 
the  prosperity  and  industry  of  its  people.  To  obtain  a 
view  from  this  dome  is  well  worth  a  visit  to  Harris- 
burg. 

The  State  House  is  surrounded  by  Capitol  Park, 
embracing  thirteen  acres,  and  inclosed  by  an  iron  fence. 
These  grounds  gently  slope  from  the  centre,  and  are 
ornamented  with  stately  trees,  beautiful  shrubbery  and 
flowers  and  closely-shorn  greensward.  The  site  was  set 
apart  for  its  present  purpose  before  Harrisburg  was  a 
city,  by  John  Harris,  its  public-spirited  founder.  Fine 
views  are  obtained  from  it  of  the  suburb  of  East 
Harrisburg  and  the  Reservoir,  Mt.  Kalmia  Cemetery, 
the  tower  of  the  new  State  Arsenal,  and  the  dome  of  the 
State  Insane  Asylum.  The  prominent  feature  of  this 
park,  next  to  the  State  House,  is,  however,  the  beautiful 
monument  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  soldiers  who 
fell  in  the  Mexican  War.  It  is  one  hundred  and  five 
feet  high,  with  a  sub-base  of  granite,  a  base  proper, 
with  buttresses  at  each  corner  surmounted  by  eagles, 
and  a  Corinthian  column  of  Maryland  marble,  sur- 
mounted by  a  statue  of  Victory,  the  latter  executed  at 


204       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Ronnie,  of  fine  Italian  marble.  The  sides  of  the 
are  paneled,  and  contain  the  names  of  the  different 
battles  of  the  Mexican  War.  The  monument  is  sur- 
rounded by  an  inclosure  constructed  of  muskets  used  by 
the  United  States  soldiers  in  Mexico.  In  front  of  the 
monument  are  a  number  of  guns,  trophies  of  the 
Mexican  war,  and  several  others  presented  by  General 
Lafayette. 

Another  monument,  at  the  intersection  of  State  and 
Second  streets,  is  in  its  design  purely  classic,  being 
founded  on  the  proportions  of  the  pair  of  obelisks  at 
the  gate  of  Memphis,  and  of  that  which  stands  in  the 
Place  Vendome  at  Paris.  It  contains  the  following 
inscription:  "To  the  Soldiers  of  Dauphin  County,  who 
gave  their  lives  for  the  life  of  the  Union,  in  the  war  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Rebellion,  1861-5.  Erected  by 
their  fellow-citizens,  1869." 

In  East  Harrisburg,  or  "Allison's  Hill,"  as  it  is 
called,  will  be  seen  Brant's  private  residence,  built  in 
the  style  of  the  Elizabethan  period ;  the  massive  stone 
Catholic  Convent,  and  St.  Genevieve's  Academy.  On 
State  street  is  Grace  M.  E.  Church,  one  of  the  most 
costly  and  beautiful  churches  in  the  State.  Not  far 
away  is  St.  Patrick's  Pro-Cathedral.  The  State  Lunatic 
Asylum  is  a  vast  and  imposing  edifice,  a  mile  and  a  half 
north  of  the  city. 

Front  street,  which  overlooks  the  river,  is  the  favorite 
promenade  of  the  city.  Here  may  be  seen  the  broad 
river,  with  its  craft  and  numerous  islands,  the  villages  on 
the  opposite  shore,  and  the  delightful  landscape  beyond. 
Here  the  citizens  often  congregate  on  fine  evenings,  to 
watch  the  sunset  views,  which  are  especially  fine  from 
this  point.  On  the  ridge  opposite,  is  FoH  Washington 


HARRISBURG.  205 

und  the  line  of  defenses  erected  in  1863,  in  expectation 
fof  an  invasion  of  the  Southern  army.  Front  street  is 
by  far  the  finest  street  in  the  city,  containing  the  most 
imposing  residences,  being  bordered  by  trees,  and 
forming  a  most  attractive  drive.  From  State  street  to 
Paxton,  it  presents  an  almost  unbroken  range  of 
palatial  buildings  of  brick,  stone,  marble  or  granite. 
On  this  street  is  found  the  residence  of  the  Governor, 
presented  to  the  State  by  the  citizens  of  Harrisburg,  in 
1864,  as  an  Executive  Mansion.  A  more  desirable 
location  for  a  residence  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than 
that  of  Hon.  J.  D.  Cameron,  on  the  southeast  corner 
of  State  and  Front  streets,  overlooking  the  Susque- 
hanna.  Near  the  corner  of  Front  street  and  Washing- 
ton avenue  is  the  old  "Harris  Mansion,"  originally 
erected  in  1766,  by  John  Harris,  and  remaining  in  the 
Harris  family  until  1840,  but  now  the  home  of  Hon. 
Simon  Cameron. 

The  Market  street  bridge  spans  the  river,  resting 
midway  on  Forster's  Island,  the  western  end  being  an 
antique  structure,  dating  back  to  1812,  while  the  eastern 
end,  having  once  been  destroyed  by  flood,  and  once  by 
fire,  was  rebuilt  in  modern  style  in  1866.  The  second 
bridge  across  the  river  is  at  the  head  of  Mulberry 
street,  but  it  is  used  for  trains  alone.  This  bridge  is 
also  divided  by  Forster's  Island,  and  has  once  been 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  was  entirely  remodeled  in  1856. 

Mt.  Kalmia  Cemetery  is  a  charming  resting-place  of 
the  dead,  on  the  heights  overlooking  the  city.  Its 
natural  beauties  are  many,  and  they  have  been 
enhanced  by  art.  It  is  reached  from  East  State  street. 

Harrisburg  has  extensive  iron  manufactories,  and  is 
the  centre  of  six  important  railways.  More  than  one 


206      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

hundred  passenger  trains  arrive  and  depart  daily,  and 
few  cities  have  a  greater  number  of  transient  visitors. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  prosperous  cities  of  the  Common- 
wealth; situated  in  a  fertile  valley,  in  view  of  some  of 
the  grandest  scenery  in  America,  with  railroads,  canals 
and  macadamized  roads,  diverging  in  all  directions, 
and  connecting  it  with  every  section  of  the  country; 
with  important  business  interests,  and  an  intelligent, 
industrious  and  prosperous  population;  the  political 
centre  of  one  of  the  chief  States  of  the  Union ;  it  has 
much  to  congratulate  itself  upon  in  the  present,  and 
more  to  hope  from  the  future.  Another  decade  will 
see  vastly  increased  business  interests,  and  a  population 
nearly  if  not  quite  double  that  of  to-day. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

HARTFORD. 

The  City  of  Publishers. — Its  Geographical  Location. — The  New 
State  House.— Mark  Twain  and  the  "None  Such."— The 
"Heathen  Chinee." — Wadsworth  Atheneum. — Charter  Oak. — 
George  H.  Clark's  Poem. — Putnam's  Hotel. — Asylum  for  Deaf 
Mutes. — The  Sign  Language. — A  Fragment  of  Witchcraftism. — 
Hartford  Courant. — The  Connecticut  River. 

HAVING  decided  to  pitch  our  tents  in  Hartford, 
we  moved  from  New  Haven  by  rail,  on  the 
afternoon  of  September  eighth,  1874.  A  hot,  dusty  day  it 
was,  indeed,  with  mercury  at  ninety-two  in  the  shade, 
and  dust  enough  to  enable  passengers  of  the  rollicking 
order  to  inscribe  monograms  on  the  backs  of  their 
unsuspecting  neighbors. 

The  distance,  according  to  recent  time  tables,  is  one 
dollar,  or  an  hour  and  fifteen  minutes.  The  scenery 
encountered  on  this  route  is  less  varied  than  that  from 
New  York  to  New  Haven,  and  yet  there  is  much  to 
interest  the  careful  observer.  The  only  town  of  any 
importance  between  these  rival  cities  is  Meriden,  an 
enterprising  city  of  twenty  thousand  souls,  standing 
midway  between  them. 

Hartford,  the  capital  of  nutmegdom,  is  the  second  city 
of  Connecticut,  having,  as  shown  by  the  last  census,  a 
population  of  thirty- seven  thousand.  Pleasantly  situ- 
ated on  the  Connecticut  River,  and  enjoying  now  the 
advantage  of  exclusive  legislation  for  the  State,  Hartford 
is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  most  important  cities  of 
New  England. 

207 


208       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Authors,  artists  and  publishers  have  ever  found 
Hartford  a  fruitful  field  for  the  development  of  brains 
and  enterprise.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  exaggeration  to  say 
that  in  no  other  city  of  the  United  States  of  the  same  size 
is  there  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  population  devoted 
to  literature.  The  American  and  Hartford  Publishing 
Companies,  the  firms  of  Burr,  Scranton,  Worthington, 
Dustin,  Gilman  and  Company,  and  many  others  of  lass 
note,  are  located  here. 

The  new  State  House,  now  in  process  of  erection,  is 
destined  to  be  one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  the  country. 
The  site  commands  a  view  of  the  city  and  its  surround- 
ings for  many  miles.  Among  the  objects  of  interest  to 
be  found  here  are  the  residence  of  "  Mark  Twain"  and 
the  State  Insane  Asylum.  "Mark's"  house  is  at  the 
end  of  Farmingtou  avenue,  on  a  little  eminence,  at  the 
foot  of  which  flows  a  nameless  stream. 

Its  style  of  construction  is  so  unlike  the  average 
house  that  it  has  won  for  itself  the  characteristic  title 
of  "  The  None  Such." 

It  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  architect,  and  will  prob- 
ably not  be  ready  for  occupancy  before  November.  If 
this  building  is  not  regarded  as  a  marvel,  then  I  will 
confess  that,  after  nearly  twenty  years  of  travel,  I  have 
yet  to  learn  the  meaning  of  that  term  as  applied  to 
architecture.  The  plat  of  ground  on  which  the  house 
and  adjacent  buildings  stand  was  selected  and  purchased 
by  Mrs.  "  Twain  " — so  said  the  gentlemanly  architect 
who  replied  to  our  inquiries.  As  the  genial  "  Mark  " 
desires  the  maximum  quantity  of  light,  his  apartments 
are  so  arranged  as  to  give  him  the  sun  all  day.  The 
bricks  of  the  outer  walls  of  the  house  are  painted  in  three 
colors,  making  the  general  effect  decidedly  fantastic. 


HARTFORD.  209 

Taking  it  all  in  all,  I  have  nowhere  seen  a  more 
curious  study  in  architecture,  and  hope,  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  its  eccentric  owner,  that  it  will  quite  meet  his 
expectations. 

The  Celestials,  or  representatives  from  China,  are  now 
so  often  seen,  from  California  eastward  to  New  England, 
that  they  have  ceased  to  be  considered  objects  of  special 
interest  in  any  part  of  the  United  States.  I  have  met 
them  more  or  less  in  my  journeyings  during  the  last  two 
years,  and  have  often  wondered  if  others  see  their  strange 
characteristics  from  the  same  standpoint  that  I  do.  To 
me,  Ah  Sin  is  ingenious,  enterprising,  economical,  and 
the  essence  of  quiet  good  humor. 

Opposite  my  quarters  here  in  Hartford  are  two  of 
these  odd-looking  Chinamen,  whom  I  will,  for  conve- 
nience, name  Ching  Wing  Shing  and  Chang  Boomerang. 

My  rooms  being  directly  opposite  the  store  of  Boome- 
rang and  Company,  an  excellent  opportunity  is  afforded 
me  for  witnessing  their  varied  devices  to  invite  trade  and 
entertain  their  customers.  Although  only  tea  and  coffee 
are  advertised,  Chang's  store  will  be  found,  on  close  in- 
spection, to  strongly  resemble  the  "  Old  Curiosity  Shop," 
described  by  Dickens,  there  being  a  small  assortment  of 
everything  in  their  line,  from  tea  and  coffee  to  water- 
melons. 

Chang  and  Ching  invariably  wear  a  smile  upon 
their  "  childlike  and  bland  "  features.  School  children 
passing  that  way  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  teasing 
these  mild-mannered  China  merchants,  and  unfortunate 
indeed  is  the  firm  of  Boomerang  and  Company,  if  their 
backs  are  turned  on  their  youthful  tormenters;  for  these 
mischievous  urchins  seem  to  think  it  no  crime  to  pilfer 
anything  owned  or  presided  over  by  their  pig-tailed 


210      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

neighbors.'  Should  Chang  or  Ching  discover  their 
sportive  enemies  gliding  away  with  the  tempting  fruits 
of  their  stands,  it  is  useless  to  pursue,  for  a  troop  of 
juvenile  confederates  will  rush  into  the  store  the  moment 
it  is  vacated  and  help  themselves  to  whatever  may 
please  their  fancy. 

THE  WADSWOETH  ATHENETJM. 

While  taking  a  stroll  down  Main  street  the  other  day 
my  attention  was  arrested  by  a  three-story  brownstone 
building,  standing  on  the  east  side  and  back  some 
distance  from  the  street.  I  had  only  to  glance  at  the 
large,  bold  lettering  across  its  front  to  be  told  that  it 
was  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum.  Deciding  to  take  a 
look  at  the  interior  of  this  receptacle  of  antiquities,  I 
soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  W.  J.  Fletcher,  the 
gentlemanly  assistant  librarian  of  the  Watkins  Library, 
who  seemed  to  take  an  especial  pleasure  in  showing 
me  everything  of  interest,  and  who  spared  no  pains  in 
explaining  everything  about  which  I  had  a  question 
to  ask. 

There  were  so  many  curiosities  of  ancient  as  well  as 
modern  pattern,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  notice  all 
in  a  work  of  this  magnitude,  and  hence  I  shall  content 
myself  with  presenting  a  few  subjects  which,  to  me  at 
least,  were  of  striking  interest.  Stepping  into  the 
Historical  Rooms  my  attention  was  first  called  to  the 
stump  of  the  famous  Charter  Oak,  which  will  ever  form 
an  interesting  chapter  in  Connecticut  history.  A  very 
comfortable  seat  or  arm-chair  has  been  moulded  from 
this  aged  relic,  and  while  sitting  within  its  venerable 
arms,  I  copied  the  following  poem  by  George  H. 
Clark,  the  manuscript  of  which  is  framed  and  hung 


HARTFORD.  211 

up  over  the  chair.     I  cannot  endorse  the  sentiment  of 
the  poet,  but  will  record  his  lines. 

September  10th,  1858. 

DEAR  SIR  : — You  seem  to  take  so  much  interest  in  my 
lines  on  the  destruction  of  the  old  oak,  that  I  have  thought 
you  might  be  pleased  with  a  copy  in  the  author's 
handwriting,  and  accordingly  inclose  one.  Yours, 

GEO.  H.  CLARK. 
THE  OAK. 

1.  "Yes — blot  the  last  sad  vestige  out — 

Burn  all  the  useless  wood ; 
Root  up  the  stump,  that  none  may  know 

Where  the  dead  monarch  stood. 
Let  traffic's  inauspicious  din 

Here  run  its  daily  round, 
And  break  the  solemn  memories 

Of  this  once  holy  ground. 

2.  "Your  fathers,  long  the  hallowed  spot 

Have  kept  with  jealous  care, 
That  worshippers  from  many  landa 

Might  pay  their  homage  there  ; 
You  spurn  the  loved  memento  now, 

Forget  the  tyrant's  yoke, 
And  lend  Oblivion  aid  to  gorge 

Our  cherished  Charter  Oak. 

8.  "  'Tis  well,  when  all  our  household  gods 

For  paltry  gain  are  sold, 
That  e'en  their  altars  should  be  razed 

And  sacrificed  for  gold. 
Then  tear  the  strong,  tenacious  roots, 

With  vandal  hands,  away, 
And  pour  within  that  sacred  crypt 

The  garish  light  of  day. 

4.  "  Let  crowds  unconscious  tread  the  soil 

By  Wordsworth  sanctified, 
Let  Mammon  bring,  to  crown  the  hill, 
Its  retinue  of  pride, 


212      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Destroy  the  patriot  pilgrim's  shrine, 

His  idols  overthrow, 
Till  o'er  the  ruin  grimly  stalks 

The  ghost  of  long  ago. 

6.  "So  may  the  muse  of  coming  time 

Indignant  speak  of  them 
Who  Freedom's  brightest  jewel  rent 

From  her  proud  diadem, —  , 

And  lash  with  her  contemptuous  scorn 

The  man  who  gave  the  stroke 
That  desecrates  the  place  where  stood 

The  brave  old  Charter  Oak." 

It  appears  to  me  that  no  more  sensible  thing  could 
have  been  done  after  the  tree  fell  to  the  ground,  August 
twenty-first,  1859,  than  to  preserve  it  here,  where  it  will 
outlive,  by  centuries,  its  rapid  decay  in  an  open  field, 
exposed  to  sun  and  storm.  Thousands  may  now  see  the 
famous  oak  that  otherwise  might  never  know  its  location 
or  history.  It  stood  on  the  grounds  formerly  owned  by 
Samuel  Wordsworth,  near  Charter  Oak  Avenue,  and  its 
top  having  been  blown  down  and  broken  during  a 
violent  storm,  it  was  afterwards  dug  up  and  taken  to  the 
Historical  Rooms  of  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum. 

After  occupying  two  hours  in  looking  through  the 
Historical  Department,  we  came  to  a  corner  of  the  room 
devoted  to  an  exhibition  of  the  relics  identified  with  the 
history  of  Genera]  Israel  Putnam,  the  Revolutionary 
patriot,  who  was  commander-in-chief  of  the  American 
forces  engaged  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 

Connecticut  takes  a  lively  interest  in  anything  that 
pertains  to  her  favorite  hero,  and  we  were  engaged  not 
less  than  half  an  hour  in  an  examination  of  the  various 
articles  impersonating  "Old  Put."  Most  Americans 
are  familiar  with  the  story  of  his  early  life  and  adven- 


HARTFORD.  213 

tares,  but  I  think  few  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  at  one 
time  he  was  a  country  landlord.  Here  at  the  Atheneum 
they  have  the  very  sign-board  that  attracted  the  traveler 
to  "  Putnam's  Hotel."  A  life-size  portrait  of  the 
gallant  General  Wolfe,  who  was  slain  while  leading  his 
army  against  Quebec,  is  painted  on  the  board,  which  is 
three  feet  long  by  two  and  a  half  wide.  Imagine  now, 
the  hero  of  a  hundred  battles  and  adventures,  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  "  mine  host " — at  once  hostler,  bar- 
tender and  perhaps  table  girl  in  the  dining  room. 

The  character  of  the  man  who  had  the  ability  to  rise 
from  the  position  of  an  humble  farmer  and  inn-keeper 
to  that  of  Senior  Major-General  of  the  United  States 
armies,  is  an  index  to  the  character  of  the  American 
people.  Often  on  the  battle-field  were  the  titled  nobility 
<  f  Great  Britain  compelled  to  fly  before  the  crushing 
blows  of  this  sturdy  yeoman,  who,  leaving  his  plow  in  the 
furrow,  rushed  to  the  field  of  danger  and  glory.  Cast- 
ing aside  the  habiliments  of  the  farmer,  he  buckled  on 
his  armor  and  dared  to  lead  where  the  bravest  dared  to 
follow.  Israel  Putman 

"  Sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  not  breaking," 
but  his  glorious  deeds  will  never  be  forgotten  while  the 
blessings  of  liberty  are  appreciated  by  the  descendants 
of  that  galaxy  of  devoted  patriots  who  rallied  around 
the  standard  of  George  Washington. 

The  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institute,  situated  on  Asylum 
Hill,  is  the  oldest  institution  of  the  kind  in  the  United 
States,  having  been  established  in  1817,  by  Rev.  F.  H. 
Gallaudet,  a  noble  and  generous  philanthropist,  who 
devoted  his  life  and  fortune  to  the  elevation  and  enlighten- 
ment of  the  afflicted.  A  monument  recently  erected  to 
his  memory,  in  front  of  the  Institute,  attests  the  regard 


214      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

in  which  he  is  still  held  by  those  who  revere  him  as 
their  benefactor. 

It  was  my  pleasure,  while  in  Hartford,  to  attend  a 
lecture  in  the  sign  language,  by  Professor  D.  E.  Bartlett, 
who  is  reputed  to  be  the  oldest  teacher  living,  and  who 
commenced  work  at  this  institute  forty  years  ago.  I 
shall  never  forget  my  emotions  as  I  eagerly  watched 
sign  and  gesture,  and  at  the  same  time  noted  its  effect 
upon  the  features  of  each  face  in  his  attentive  audience. 
What  a  noble  mission,  to  thus  lead  these  children  of 
silence  from  the  prison  darkness  of  ignorance  into  the 
beautiful  light  of  knowledge?  May  those  who  devote 
their  lives  to  such  a  cause  reap  the  rich  reward  which 
their  benevolence  deserves ! 

In  1652  Hartford  had  the  honor  of  executing  the  first 
witch  ever  heard  of  in  America.  Her  name  was  Mrs. 
Greensmith.  She  was  accused  in  the  indictment  of 
practicing  evil  things  on  the  body  of  Ann  Cole,  which 
did  not  appear  to  be  true ;  but  a  certain  Rev.  Mr.  Stone 
and  other  ministers  swore  that  Greensmith  had  con- 
fessed to  them  that  the  devil  possessed  her,  and  the 
righteous  court  hung  her  on  their  indictment. 

What  would  that  court  have  done  with  the  spiritual 
manifestations  rife  in  these  parts  to-day  ?  It  is  a 
bitter  sarcasm  on  our  Plymouth  Rock  progenitors  that, 
having  fled  from  the  old  country  on  account  of  religious 
persecution,  they  should  inaugurate  their  freedom  to 
worship  God  on  the  shores  of  the  new  world  by  hang- 
ing witches ! 

The  leading  paper  of  the  city  is  the  Hartford  Courant, 
which  is  ably  edited  by  General  Joseph  R.  Hawley,  and 
is  a  powerful  political  organ  throughout  New  England. 
General  Hawley  distinguished  himself  during  the  late 


HARTFORD.  215 

war  as  a  brave  officer,  entering  the  army  as  captain  and 
rising  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general.  The  Courant, 
like  its  soldier-editor,  may  always  be  found  fighting  in 
the  van. 

The  Connecticut  River  at  Hartford  is  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  wide,  and  sweeps  onward  in  a  swift  current, 
through  sinuous  banks,  until  it  mingles  with  the  waters 
of  the  Sound  at  Saybrook.  The  valley  through  which 
this  river  seeks  a  passage  to  the  sea  is  one  of  the 
loveliest  to  be  found  anywhere,  and  gazing  down  upon 
it  from  the  surrounding  heights,  as  it  lies  veiled  in  blue 
distance,  is  like  looking  upon  a  dream  of  Arcadia. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LANCASTER. 

First  Visit  to  Lancaster. — Eastern  Pennsylvania. — Conestoga 
River. — Early  History  of  Lancaster. — Early  Dutch  Settlers. — 
Manufactures. — Public  Buildings. — Whit-Monday. — Home  of 
three  Noted  Persons. — James  Buchanan,  his  Life  and  Death. — 
Thaddeus  Stevens  and  his  Burial  Place. — General  Reynolds 
and  his  Death. — "  Cemetery  City." 

MY  first  visit  to  Lancaster  was  made  on  a  bright 
morning  in  the  early  part  of  April,  1877.  We 
rode  out  of  the  West  Philadelphia  Depot  in  the  eight 
o'clock  accommodation,  which  we  were  told  would  make 
sixty-five  stops  in  a  short  journey  of  seventy-three  miles. 
I  did  not  count  the  stations,  but  should  have  no 
hesitancy  in  fully  indorsing  my  informant.  The 
frequency  of  the  halts  gave  us  an  excellent  opportunity 
to  explore  the  surrounding  country,  and  reminded  one 
of  street-car  experiences  in  metropolitan  cities,  where 
one  is  brought  to  a  stand  at  every  crossing.  Eastern 
Pennsylvania  is  beyond  question  the  finest  section  of  the 
State ;  and  the  tourist  who  sojourns  at  Bryn  Mawr, 
Downingtown,  Bird-in-Hand,  and  many  of  their  sister 
villages,  will  see  abundant  evidences  of  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  an  industrious  people.  The  country 
is  sufficiently  rolling  to  be  picturesque,  without  any  of 
the  ruggedness  which  characterizes  the  central  and 
western  portions  of  the  State.  Sometimes  from  the  car 
windows  the  roofs  and  spires  of  several  villages  may  be 
seen  in  different  directions,  while  substantial  farm- 
houses with  their  commodious  out- buildings,  are  on 

216 


LANCASTER.  217 

every  hand.  The  land  is  brought  to  a  high  state  of 
cultivation,  and  the  entire  region  seems  almost  like 
an  extensive  park. 

Lancaster,  the  county-seat  of  Lancaster  County, 
Pennsylvania,  is  situated  on  the  Conestoga  River, 
seventy-three  miles  from  Philadelphia.  This  river, 
which  is  a  tributary  of  the  Susquehauna,  is  made  navi- 
gable by  nine  locks  and  slack-water  pools,  from  Lancaster 
to  its  mouth  at  Safe  Harbor,  eighteen  miles  distant. 
Considerable  trade  is  brought  to  the  city  by  its  means ; 
while  Tidewater  Canal  opens  up  navigable  communica- 
tion to  Baltimore,  by  way  of  Port  Deposit.  Lancaster 
was,  from  1799  to  1812,  the  seat  of  the  State 
government;  it  was  incorporated  in  1818,  and  was  at 
one  time  the  principal  inland  town  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  oldest  turnpike  in  the  United  States  terminates  at 
Lancaster,  connecting  that  city  with  Philadelphia.  It 
has  now  something  more  than  twenty-five  thousand 
inhabitants,  largely  descended  from  the  early  Dutch 
settlers,  whose  names  are  still  borne,  and  whose  language, 
corrupted  into  "  Pennsylvania  Dutch,"  is  still  a  most 
familiar  one  in  that  region. 

The  city  is  principally  a  manufacturing  one,  producing 
locomotives,  axes,  carriages  and  cotton  goods,  and  being 
particularly  celebrated  for  its  rifles.  It  has  many  fine 
buildings,  both  public  and  private.  The  Court  House 
and  County  Prison  will  both  attract  attention,  the 
former  being  in  the  Corinthian  and  the  latter  in  the 
Norman  style  of  architecture.  Fulton  Hall,  near  the 
Market-place,  is  a  large  edifice  used  for  public 
assemblies.  Franklin  and  Marshall  College,  organized 
in  1853  by  the  union  of  Marshall  College  with  the  old 
Franklin  College,  founded  in  1787,  is  found  on  James 


218      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

street,  and  possesses  a  library  of  thirteen  thousand 
volumes.  It  has  a  large  number  of  both  daily  and 
weekly  newspapers,  and  not  less  than  fifteen  churches. 

Whit-Monday  is  the  leading,  social  national  holiday 
with  the  Germans  of  Lancaster  city  and  county,  and, 
as  such,  is  the  scene  of  general  festivities  among  the 
city  folk  and  a  large  influx  of  country  visitors.  On 
the  return  of  this  day  in  Lancaster,  the  venders  of  beer, 
peanuts,  colored  lemonade  and  pop-corn  are  stationed 
at  every  corner,  and  are  unusually  clamorous  and  busy. 
The  pic-nics,  shows  and  flying  horses  are  well  patron- 
ized ;  but  I  am  told  that  the  scene  in  the  public  square 
is  not  so  animated  as  in  former  days,  when  soap  venders 
and  the  razor  strop  man  monopolized  the  attention  of 
the  rustic  lads  and  lasses.  Public  ceremonies  have  no 
apparent  place  in  the  observance  of  this  anniversary. 

Lancaster  is  noted  for  having  been  the  residence  of 
three  persons  who  have  played  an  important  part  in 
the  affairs  of  the  nation :  James  Buchanan,  our  fifteenth 
President;  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  the  champion  of 
the  slave;  and  General  Reynolds,  the  gallant  soldier, 
who  fell  at  Gettysburg.  These  all  sleep  their  last  sleep 
within  the  city  limits.  James  Buchanan,  though  born 
in  Franklin  County,  Pennsylvania,  made  his  home  at 
Lancaster  during  all  the  years  of  his  statesmanship, 
finding  at  Wheatland,  his  country  residence,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  city,  relaxation  from  the  cares  of  public 
life.  Born  in  1791,  in  1814  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Pennsylvania  House  of  Representatives.  In 
1820  he  was  elected  Congressman,  holding  that  position 
until  1831,  when  he  was  appointed  ambassador  to 
Russia.  In  1834  he  was  made  Senator;  in  1845 
Secretary  of  State  under  President  Polk,  and  Ambas- 


LANCASTER.  219 

sador  to  England  in  1854.  In  1856  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  close  of  his  admin- 
istration being  signalized  by  the  secession  of  South 
Carolina,  and  the  incipient  steps  of  the  Rebellion.  He 
died  at  his  home  at  Wheatland,  in  Lancaster,  on  June 
first,  1868. 

The  remains  of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  for  so  many  years 
one  of  the  most  fearless  champions  of  the  anti-slavery 
cause  in  Congress,  lie  buried  in  "Schreiuer's  Cemetery," 
in  a  quiet  and  retired  corner  at  the  side  furthest  from 
its  entrance  on  West  Chestnut  street.  An  exceedingly 
plain  stone,  with  a  simple  but  expressive  inscription, 
tells  the  stranger  the  date  of  his  birth  and  death,  and 
the  reasons  which  led  him  to  request  that  his  remains 
should  be  laid  in  this,  the  most  unpretentious  cemetery 
I  have  ever  seen  within  the  limits  of  any  city.  The 
word  Stevens  is  clearly  cut  in  large  letters  on  the  west 
end  of  the  stone.  On  the  opposite  end  I  noticed  a 
gilt  star.  On  the  north  side  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion : — 

"Tn  ADD  BUS  STEVENS, 
BORN  AT  DANVILLE,  CALEDONIA  Co.,  VERMONT, 

APRIL  4TH,  1792. 

DIED  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

AUGUST  HTH,  1868." 

On  the  south  side  of  the  monument  are  found  these 
words : — 

*'  I  repose  in  this  quiet  and  secluded  spot, 
Not  from  any  natural  preference  for  solitude, 
But  finding  other  cemeteries  limited  as  to  race, 
By  charter  rules, 

I  have  chosen  this  that  I  might  illustrate  in  my  death 
The  principles  which  I  advocated  through  a  long  life : 
Equality  of  man  before  his  Creator." 


220      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

General  Reynolds  was  among  the  first  to  fall  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg.  On  the  evening  of  Jane  thirtieth, 
1863,  while  commanding  the  First,  Third  and  Eleventh 
Corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  encamped  near 
the  village  of  Emmetsburg,  Maryland.  He  was  or- 
dered by  General  Meade  to  move  early  in  the  morning, 
with  his  First  and  Third  Corps,  in  the  direction  of 
Gettysburg.  The  Third  Cavalry  Division,  under  Gen- 
eral John  Buford,  was  attacked  on  Wednesday  morning, 
on  the  Chambersburg  pike,  about  two  miles  west  of  the 
village,  by  the  vanguard  of  the  Rebel  army,  which, 
however,  were  driven  back  upon  their  reserves,  but 
advanced  again  and,  with  greatly  augmented  numbers, 
drove  the  Union  troops  before  them.  General  Wads^ 
worth,  hearing  the  sound  of  the  conflict,  came  up  with 
his  men  and  seized  the  range  of  hills  in  the  direction  of 
Chambersburg,  overlooking  the  battle  ground  from  the 
northwest.  While  Wadsworth  was  getting  into  posi- 
tion, Reynolds  rode  forward,  unattended,  to  gain  an  idea 
of  the  position  and  numbers  of  the  enemy.  He  discov- 
ered a  heavy  force  not  far  distant,  in  a  grove,  and,  while 
reconnoitring  through  his  field-glass,  one  of  the  enemy's 
sharpshooters  took  aim  at  him,  with  fatal  effect.  He 
fell  to  the  ground,  never  to  rise  again.  He  was  a 
brave  and  dauntless  soldier,  who  had  already  won  such 
distinction  on  the  battlefield  that  few  were  entrusted 
with  as  heavy  responsibilities  as  he.  Had  his  life  been 
prolonged,  no  doubt  he  would  have  been  promoted  still 
higher,  and  his  name  might  have  been  written  among 
those  of  the  successful  generals  of  the  war.  His  ashes 
repose  at  Lancaster,  where  due  honor  is  done  them. 

Lancaster  might  not  inappropriately  be  called  the 
Cemetery  City,  for  every  principal  street  seems  to  lead 


LANCASTER.  221 

to  a  cemetery.  Here,  in  these  cities  of  the  dead,  lie 
those  who  have  passed  away  for  many  generations  back. 
Numerous  venerable  stones  record,  in  Dutch,  the  names 
and  virtues  of  Herrs  and  Fraus  who  lived  and  died  in 
the  last  century,  while  more  modern  tombstones  and 
monuments  are  erected  over  the  later  dead.  Few 
places  are  more  interesting  to  one  who  would  study  a 
people  and  their  history,  than  an  old  graveyard ;  and 
few  cities  furnish  the  visitor  more  numerous  or  better 
opportunities  than  Lancaster. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MILWAUKEE. 

Rapid  Development  of  the  Northwest. — The  "  West"  Forty  Years 
Ago. — Milwaukee  and  its  Commerce  and  Manufactures. — Grain 
Elevators. — Harbor. — Divisions  of  the  City. — Public  Buildings. 
— Northwestern  National  Asylum  for  Disabled  Soldiers. — Ger- 
man Population. — Influence  and  Results  of  German  Immigra- 
tion.— Bank  Riot  in  1862. — Ancient  Tumuli. — Mound  Builders. 
—  Mounds  Near  Milwaukee. — Significance  of  Same. —  Early 
Traders. — Foundation  of  the  City  in  1835. — Excelling  Chicago 
in  1870. — Population  and  Commerce  in  1880. 

rTlHERE  is  no  more  astonishing  fact  connected 
JL  with  the  history  of  our  country  than  the  rapid 
settlement  of  the  Northwest,  the  development  of  its  vast 
agricultural  and  mineral  resources,  and  the  almost 
magical  growth  of  towns  and  cities  along  the  margins  of 
its  lakes  and  rivers.  A  person  who  has  not  passed 
middle  age  can  remember  when  the  "  West"  indicated 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  which  were  reached  by  the 
emigrant  after  many  days  of  weary  travel  in  his  own  rude- 
covered  wagon,  and  before  starting  on  his  journey  to  which 
he  bade  kindred  and  friends  a  solemn  adieu,  scarcely 
hoping  to  meet  them  again  in  this  world.  Then  the 
present  great  trade  centres  of  the  west  were  mere  villages, 
with  ambitious  aspirations,  it  is  true,  but  contending  for  a 
successful  future  against  fearful  odds.  A  man  who  has 
reached  threescore  and  ten  can  remember  when  most 
of  these  towns  and  cities  had  no  existence  save  as  Indian 
trading  posts,  and  when  most  of  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi  was  as  yet  unexplored  and  regarded  either  as 

222 


MILWAUKEE.  223 

a  desert  waste  or  a  howling  wilderness.  Only  the  brave 
Jesuit  missionaries  had  at  that  period  dared  the  perils  of 
something  even  more  dangerous  than  a  frontier  life,  and 
established  missions  throughout  the  Northwest,  on  the 
sites  of  what  are  to-day  thriving  towns. 

But  the  genius  and  daring  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
have  changed  all  this.  Civilization  has  impressed  itself 
so  deeply  on  our  Northwestern  territory,  that  were  it,  by 
any  unfortunate  contingency,  destroyed  or  removed  to- 
day, it  would  take  longer  time  to  obliterate  its  footprints 
than  it  has  required  to  make  them. 

Among  the  cities  of  the  West  remarkable  for  rapid 
growth,  Milwaukee,  on  the  western  bank  of  Lake 
Michigan,  is  especially  prominent.  First  settled  in 
1835,  and  not  chartered  as  a  city  until  1846,  she  has 
made  such  rapid  strides  in  both  population  and  com- 
merce, that  in  1880  her  inhabitants  numbered  115,578, 
and  in  1870  she  claimed  the  rank  of  the  fourth  city  in 
the  Union  in  marine  commerce,  a  rank  which  she  has 
since  lost,  not  by  any  backward  steps  on  her  own 
part,  but  because  of  the  sudden  and  astonishing  develop- 
ment of  other  cities. 

A  rival  of  Chicago,  Milwaukee  shares  with  that  cit} 
the  commerce  of  the  lakes,  and  is  connected  by  steam, 
boats  with  many  points  on  the  opposite  side  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  with  more  distant  ports.  She  is  the  lak* 
terminus  of  a  large  number  of  railroads  which  drain  an 
agricultural  region  of  great  extent  and  fertility;  while 
her  nearness  to  the  copper  mines  of  Lake  Superior  and 
the  inexhaustible  iron  mines  distant  but  from  forty  to 
fifty  miles  to  the  northward,  contribute  to  make  her  a 
manufacturing  centre.  A  single  establishment  for  the 
manufacture  of  railroad  iron  was  established,  at  a  cost  of 


224      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

a  million  of  dollars.  She  has  other  iron  works,  manu- 
factures, machinery,  agricultural  implements,  car  wheels 
and  steam  boilers,  large  quantities  of  tobacco  and  cigars ; 
furnishes  the  Northwest  with  furniture,  and  has  extensive 
pork  packing  establishments,  while  the  products  of  her 
flouring  mills  and  lager  beer  breweries  find  markets  in 
every  quarter  of  the  United  States,  and  have  a  reputation 
all  their  own.  The  rolling  mill  of  the  North  Chicago 
Rolling  Mill  Company  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  in 
the  West. 

As  a  grain  depot,  Milwaukee  takes  high  rank. 
There  are  six  immense  elevators  within  the  limits  of  the 
city,  with  a  united  capacity  of  3,450,000  bushels;  the 
largest  one,  the  grain  elevator  of  the  Milwaukee  and  St. 
Paul  Railroad,  being  one  of  the  largest  on  the  continent, 
and  having  a  storage  capacity  of  1,500,000  bushels. 
The  flour  mills  of  E.  Sanderson  &  Company  have  a 
daily  capacity  of  one  thousand  barrels  of  flour. 

The  harbor  of  Milwaukee  is  the  best  on  the  south  or 
west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  It  is  formed  by  the  mouth 
of  the  Milwaukee  River,  and  the  largest  lake  boat  can 
ascend  it  for  two  miles,  to  the  heart  of  the  city,  at  which 
point  the  Menoraonee  River  unites  with  the  Milwaukee. 
The  course  of  the  Milwaukee  River  is  nearly  due  south, 
while  that  of  the  Menomonee  is  nearly  due  west ;  and 
by  these  two  rivers  and  their  united  stream  after  their 
junction,  the  city  is  divided  into  three  very  nearly  equal 
districts,  which  are  severally  known  as  the  East,  being 
that  portion  of  the  city  between  the  Milwaukee  River  and 
Lake  Michigan;  the  West,  that  portion  included  between 
the  two  rivers  ;  and  the  South,  or  the  territory  south  of 
them  both.  The  city  embraces  an  area  of  seventeen 
square  miles,  and  is  laid  out  with  the  regularity  char- 


MILWAUKEE  225 

acteristic  of  western  cities.  The  business  quarter  lies  in 
a  sort  of  hollow  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  two  rivers, 
whose  shores  are  lined  with  wharves.  The  East  and 
West  portions  of  the  city  are  chiefly  occupied  by  resi- 
dences, the  former  being  upon  a  high  bluff,  overlooking 
the  lake,  and  the  latter  upon  a  still  higher  bluff  west  of 
the  river. 

Milwaukee  is  known  as  the  "Cream  City  of  the 
Lakes,"  this  name  being  derived  from  the  cream-colored 
brick  of  which  many  of  the'  buildings  are  constructed. 
It  gives  to  the  streets  a  peculiar  light  and  cheerful 
aspect.  The  whole  architectural  appearance  of  the  city 
is  one  of  primness  rather  than  of  grandeur,  which  might 
not  inappropriately  suggest  for  it  the  name  of  the 
"  Quaker  City  of  the  West."  The  residence  streets  are 
shaded  by  avenues  of  trees,  which  add  to  the  cheerful 
beauty  of  the  town.  The  principal  hotels  and  retail 
stores  are  found  upon  East  Water  street,  Wisconsin 
street  and  Second  avenue,  which  are  all  three  wide  and 
handsome  thoroughfares.  The  United  States  Custom 
House  stands  on  the  corner  of  Wisconsin  and  Milwaukee 
streets,  and  is  the  finest  public  building  in  the  city.  It 
is  of  Athens  stone,  and  contains  the  Post  Office  and 
United  States  Courts.  The  County  Court  House  is  also 
a  striking  edifice.  The  Opera  House,  used  for  theatrical 
purposes,  is  worthy  of  mention ;  while  the  Academy  of 
Music,  which  was  erected  in  1864,  by  the  German 
Musical  Society,  at  a  cost  of  $65,000,  has  an  elegant 
auditorium,  seating  two  thousand  three  hundred  persons. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  St.  John,  and  the  new 
Baptist  Church,  are  fine  church  edifices,  but  the  finest 
which  the  city  contains  is  the  Immanual  Presbyterian 
Church.  A  Free  Public  Library  possesses  a  library  of 


15 


226      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

fourteen  thousand  volumes,  and  a  well-supplied  reading 
room.  Several  banking  houses  have  imposing  buildings. 
The  most  prominent  among  the  educational  institutions 
of  the  city  is  the  Milwaukee  Female  College,  which  was 
finished  in  1873.  There  are  three  Orphan  Asylums,  a 
Home  for  the  Friendless,  and  two  Hospitals.  But  the 
chief  point  of  interest  to  the  visitor  is  the  Northwestern 
National  Asylum  for  disabled  soldiers,  which  furnishes 
excellent  accommodations  for  from  seven  hundred  to 
eight  hundred  inmates.  It  is  an  immense  brick  edifice, 
located  three  miles  from  the  city,  in  the  midst  of  grounds 
four  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  in  extent,  more  than 
half  of  which  is  under  cultivation,  and  the  remainder 
laid  out  as  a  park.  The  institution  has  a  reading  room, 
and  a  library  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  volumes,  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  its  patriot  guests. 

No  one  who  visits  Milwaukee  can  fail  to  be  struck 
with  the  semi-foreign  appearance  of  the  city.  Breweries 
are  multiplied  throughout  its  streets,  lager  beer  saloons 
abound,  beer  gardens,  with  their  flowers  and  music  and 
tree  or  arbor-shaded  tables,  attract  the  tired  and  thirsty 
in  various  quarters.  German  music  halls,  gasthausen, 
and  restaurants  are  found  everywhere,  and  German 
signs  are  manifest  over  many  doors.  One  hears  German 
spoken  upon  the  streets  quite  as  often  as  English,  and 
Teuton  influence  upon  the  political  and  social  life  of  the 
city  is  everywhere  seen  and  felt.  Germans  constitute 
nearly  one-half  the  entire  population  of  Milwaukee, 
and  have  impressed  their  character  upon  the  people  and 
the  city  itself  in  other  ways  than  socially.  Steady-going 
plodders,  with  their  love  for  music  and  flowers,  they  have 
yet  no  keen  taste  for  display,  and  every  time  choose  the 
substantial  rather  than  the  ornamental.  Milwaukee  is  a 


MILWAUKEE.  227 

sort  of  rendezvous  for  the  Scandinavian  emigrants,  who 
are  pouring  in  like  a  mighty  tide  to  fill  up  the  States  of 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  Danes  and  Swedes,  and 
especially  Norwegians,  stop  here,  and  it  may  be,  linger 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  before  they  strike  out 
into  the,  to  them,  unknown  country  which  is  to  be  their 
future  home.  Domestic  service  is  largely  supplied  by 
the  Norwegians,  who  prove  themselves  honest,  indus- 
trious and  capable. 

This  mighty  influx  of  the  Germanic  races  into  our 
Northwestern  States  is  certain  to  produce  a  permanent 
impression  upon  the  inhabitants  of  those  States.  Yet 
our  system  of  government  is  adapted  to  the  successful 
management  of  such  immigration.  It  cannot,  perhaps, 
do  so  much  with  the  immigrants  themselves.  Many  of 
them  intelligent,  but  more  of  them  ignorant  and  stupid, 
they  remain  foreign  in  their  habits  and  ideas  to  the  end 
of  their  lives.  But  it  makes  citizens  of  their  sons, 
trains  them  up  with  an  understanding  of  democratic 
institutions,  gives  them  an  education,  for  the  most  part, 
forces  them  to  acquire  our  language,  and  instead  of 
making  them  a  separate  class,  recognizes  them  as  an 
undivided  part  of  the  whole  population.  In  brief,  it 
Americanizes  them,  and  though  habits  and  traits  of 
character  and  race  still  cling  to  them  in  some  degree, 
their  original  nationality  is  soon  lost  in  the  great 
cosmopolitan  tide  of  civilized  humanity  which  swells 
and  surges  around  them.  Diiferent  races  intermarry 
and  blend,  and  form  a  composite  of  personnel  and 
character  which  is  fast  becoming  individualized  and 
recognized  as  the  type  of  the  true  American.  After  a 
few  generations  but  little  remains  save  the  patronymic 


228      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

to  remind  the  descendants  of  these  Teuton  immigrants 
of  their  original  descent. 

Wherever  the  German  race  has  settled  it  has  taken 
substantial  prosperity  with  it.  The  members  of  that 
race  have  proved  themselves  honest,  industrious,  and 
preeminently  loyal.  To  the  "  Dutch  "  St.  Louis  owed 
her  own  modified  loyalty  during  the  late  civil  war. 
The  German  element  of  Cincinnati  also  turned  the 
tide  of  popular  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  North,  and 
secured  for  that  city,  during  war  times,  an  immunity 
from  disturbance,  and  a  prosperity  unexampled  during 
her  previous  history.  They  bring  with  them  not  only 
thrift,  but  an  appreciation  for  the  refining  arts  which  is 
not  found  in  any  other  class  of  immigrants.  The  Ger- 
man quarter  of  a  city  may  nearly  always  be  discovered 
by  the  abundance  of  flowers  in  windows  and  balconies, 
and  growing  thriftily  in  secluded  courts.  The  German 
better  appreciates  his  beer  when  drank  in  the  midst  of 
natural  beauties,  and  to  the  sound  of  music.  To  this 
music-loving  characteristic  of  her  German  population 
Milwaukee  owes  her  finest  music  hall,  the  Academy  of 
Music  already  described.  They  are  not  quick  of  thought, 
but  even  their  stolidity,  when  it  is  offset  and  modified  by 
the  almost  supernatural  sharpness  and  quickness  of  wit 
of  other  nationalities  which  also  look  to  America  as 
a  refuge  from  oppression,  produces  a  useful  counter- 
balance, and  the  offspring  of  the  two  will  be  apt  to 
possess  stability  of  character  with  intellectual  alertness. 
The  Germans  have  their  faults,  undoubtedly,  but  they 
are  less  obnoxious  than  those  of  many  other  classes  of 
immigrants,  and  when  modified  often  become  virtues. 

Milwaukee,  since  her  existence  as  a  city,  has  had  a 


MILWAUKEE.  229 

comparatively  uneventful  history.  She  has  not  been 
ravaged  by  flood,  like  Cincinnati,  nor  by  fire,  like 
Chicago,  nor  by  pestilence,  like  Memphis,  nor  by  famine, 
like  many  cities  in  the  old  world.  She  has  moved  on 
in  the  even  tenor  of  her  way,  increasing  her  commerce 
and  adding  to  her  industries,  perfecting  her  school 
system  and  enlarging  her  own  domain.  The  only 
disturbance  which  is  recorded  against  her  in  the  chron- 
icles of  her  existence,  occurred  in  June,  1862,  when 
there  was  a  riot,  in  consequence  of  the  rejection,  by  the 
bankers  of  Milwaukee,  of  the  notes  of  most  of  the  banks 
of  the  State.  The  banks  of  Wisconsin  being  governed, 
at  that  time,  by  a  free  banking  law,  modeled,  in  a  great 
measure,  after  that  of  New  York,  had  purchased  largely 
the  bonds  of  different  Southern  States,  and  deposited 
them  with  the  State  Comptroller  as  a  security  for  their 
issues,  the  bonds  of  said  States  usually  being  lower  than 
those  of  the  Northern  States.  When  the  Southern 
States  withdrew  from  the  Union  there  was,  in  conse- 
quence, a  rapid  reduction  of  the  value  of  these  securities, 
and  an  equally  rapid  depreciation  of  the  value  of  the 
bank  notes  based  upon  them.  Their  issues  were  finally 
curtailed,  occasioning  severe  loss  and  great  bitterness  of 
feeling  on  the  part  of  those  who  held  them.  The  riot 
consequent  on  this  state  of  affairs  resulted  in  a  consider- 
able destruction  of  property,  though  no  lives  were  lost. 
It  was  finally  quelled  by  the  State  authorities. 

Of  the  original  inhabitants  of  Wisconsin,  we  have  no 
knowledge  whatever.  The  only  traces  they  have  left  of 
their  existence  are  numerous  ancient  mounds  or  tumuli, 
which  are  scattered  at  various  points  all  over  the  State. 
Their  antiquity  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  trees  of  four 
hundred  years'  growth  are  found  standing  upon  them. 


230      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Discoveries  in  the  Lake  Superior  copper  regions,  of 
mines  which  had  once  been  worked,  over  which  trees  of 
a  like  age  were  growing,  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
same  people  raised  the  mounds  and  worked  the  mines. 
In  all  probability  their  antiquity  extends  further  back- 
ward than  this.  The  Indians,  improperly  called  the 
aborigines,  have  no  traditions  concerning  the  construc- 
tion of  these  mounds,  which  are  evidently  none  of  their 
handiwork,  but  •  belong  to  a  race  which  has  been  sup- 
planted and  disappeared  from  the  globe.  The  similarity 
of  these  mounds  to  those  discovered  in  Central  America 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  both  the  work  of 
one  and  the  same  race;  but  whether  they  were  constructed 
as  tombs  or  as  places  for  altars,  there  is  a  division  of 
opinion.  Those  in  Central  America  were  evidently  once 
surmounted  by  temples  or  places  of  worship  and  sacrifice. 
These  mounds  vary  in  size,  shape  and  height.  At 
Prairie  du  Chien  one  of  the  largest  of  these  tumuli  was 
leveled  to  furnish  a  site  for  Fort  Crawford.  It  was 
circular  in  form,  having  a  base  of  some  two  hundred 
feet,  and  was  twenty  feet  high.  The  circular  form  is  the 
most  common  in  those  mounds,  although  there  are  many 
different  shapes.  Some  appear  like  wells,  inclosing  an 
open  space;  others  like  breastworks  with  angles;  still 
others  have  a  space  through  them,  as  if  they  formed  a 
sort  of  gateway.  On  the  dividing  ridge  between  the 
Mississippi  and  Wisconsin  rivers  mounds  are  found  in 
the  form  of  birds  with  their  wings  and  tails  spread;  of 
deer,  rabbits  and  other  animals.  One  even  bears  a 
marked  resemblance  to  an  elephant.  There  are  also  a 
few  mounds  representing  a  man  lying  on  his  face. 
They  are  three  or  four  feet  high  at  the  highest  points, 
rounding  over  the  sides. 


MILWAUKEE.  231 

One  of  the  most  singular  characteristics  of  these 
mounds  is  that  they  seem  invariably  to  be  composed  of 
earth  brought  from  a  greater  or  less  distance.  The 
surface  of  the  surrounding  ground  usually  comes  up  to 
the  base  of  the  mound  in  a  smooth  level,  when  it  does 
not  already  possess  a  natural  elevation  ;  but  there  is  no 
evidence  of  the  ground  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood 
having  been  disturbed  to  furnish  the  earth  for  their 
construction.  In  some  instances  the  soil  of  these  tumuli 
is  of  an  actually  different  character,  the  like  of  which  has 
not  been  discovered  within  several  miles  of  the  mounds. 

These  antiquities  constitute  the  only  mementoes  and 
annals  transmitted  to  us,  of  the  mysterious  race  which 
once  peopled  our  western  territory,  and  extended  as  far 
east  as  the  shores  of  the  Ohio,  as  far  north  as  the  great 
lakes,  and  westward  and  southward  to  Central  America. 
It  seems  a  pity  that  no  systematic  effort  has  been  made 
to  perpetuate  them,  if  not  for  the  benefit  of  future 
generations  whose  interest  and  curiosity  should  be  excited 
at  beholding  them,  at  least  out  of  a  consideration  for  the 
unknown  race  whose  work  they  are,  and  as  enduring 
monuments  to  whose  numbers  and  industry  they  have 
remained  up  to  the  present  time,  when  all  else  has 
perished.  The  plow,  the  hoe  and  the  spade,  those 
iconoclastic  weapons  of  civilization,  are  fast  effacing  them 
from  the  surface  of  the  country.  When  the  plow  once 
breaks  the  sod  which  has  covered  them  and  preserved 
their  form,  the  wind  and  rain  each  lend  speedy  assist- 
ance to  the  work  of  destruction,  and  but  a  few  years 
will  elapse  before  most  of  them  will  have  disappeared 
altogether,  and  the  places  which  have  known  them  for 
untold  centuries  will  know  them  no  more  forever. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  mention  that  these  mounds 


232      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

have  most  frequently  been  found  on  sites  selected  for 
modern  towns  and  cities,  as  though  ancients  and 
moderns  alike  had  instinctively  chosen  for  their  abid- 
ing places  those  localities  most  favored  by  nature  for 
the  uses  of  man.  Numerous  earthworks  about  Mil- 
waukee attest  the  favor  in  which  the  locality  of  that 
city  was  held  by  this  pre-historic  race.  These  works 
extend  from  Kinnickinnic  Creek,  near  the  "Indian 
Fields,"  where  they  are  most  abundant,  to  a  point  six 
miles  above  the  city.  They  occupy  high  grounds  near 
but  not  in  immediate  proximity  to  the  lake  and  streams, 
and  are  most  varied  in  their  form,  while  many  are  of 
large  extent.  They  are  chiefly  from  one  hundred  to 
four  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  represent  turtles, 
lizards,  birds,  the  otter  and  buffalo,  while  a  number 
have  the  form  of  a  war  club.  Occasionally,  a  mound  is 
elevated  so  as  to  overlook  or  command  many  others,  as 
though  it  was  a  sort  of  high  or  superior  altar  for  the 
observance  of  religious  or  sacrificial  rites.  Milwaukee 
is  to  be  commended  for  her  failure  to  manifest  that 
spirit  of  modern  vandalism  which,  in  other  sections, 
has  sacrificed  the  relics  of  a  by-gone  age  and  people  to 
the  fancied  utility  of  civilization.  The  Forest  Home 
Cemetery  incloses  a'  number  of  these  mounds,  and  so 
they  are  preserved  for  the  benefit  of  the  antiquary  and 
curiosity  seeker.  We  trust  she  will  continue  to  cherish 
sacredly  these  few  monuments  left  as  the  sole  legacy  of 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  West. 

The  early  Indian  name  of  the  river  upon  which  the 
city  of  Milwaukee  now  stands  was  Mellcoki.  So  says 
one  tradition.  Another  gives  the  name  as  Man-a- 
wau-kee,  from  the  name  of  a  valuable  medicinal  root 
known  as  Man-wau ;  hence,  the  land  or  place  of  the 


MILWAUKEE.  233 

Man-wau.  Still  another  gives  the  Indian  name  as 
Me-ne-wau-kee — a  rich  or  beautiful  land.  The  Indians 
had  a  village  on  the  site  of  the  present  city.  The  Mil- 
waukee tribe  were  troublesome  and  difficult  to  manage. 
About  the  first  trader  who  ventured  to  establish  a  post 
among  them  was  Alexander  Laframboise,  who  came 
from  Mackinaw  and  located  on  the  spot  previous  to  or 
about  1785.  This  trading  post,  having  been  misman- 
aged, was  discontinued  about  1800,  and  another  soon 
took  its  place.  A  succession  of  trading  posts  and  fur 
stations  followed,  until  about  1818,  when  Solomon 
Juneau,  a  Frenchman,  established  himself  there  per- 
manently, with  a  little  colony  of  half-breeds,  who  built 
themselves  log  cabins  on  the  banks  of  the  stream,  two 
miles  from  the  lake,  near  the  junction  of  the  Menomo- 
nee.  Below  them,  on  the  river  flats,  where  now  extend 
the  business  streets  of  the  city,  the  low  marshy  ground 
was  overgrown  by  tall  reeds  and  rushes,  while  away 
back  from  the  river  stretched  the  boundless  prairie. 
The  place  was  known,  thenceforth,  as  Juneau's  Settle- 
ment. This  settlement  gradually  attracted,  first,  other 
traders,  and  finally  immigrants.  In  1825  it  was  still 
nothing  more  than  a  trading  station,  but  ten  years  later 
it  had  become  a  settlement  and  called  itself  a  town, 
taking  the  name  of  Milwaukee,  from  the  river  upon 
which  it  was  built. 

Chicago  had  already  begun  her  marvelous  growth, 
and  was  at  that  very  time  extending  herself  to  extra- 
ordinary dimensions — on  paper.  The  little  town  of 
Milwaukee  had  then  no  thought  of  rivalry,  but  was 
content  to  plod  along  for  eleven  years  more  before  it 
received  its  city  charter.  By  1850  its  growth  had  been 


234       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

remarkable,  and  it  numbered  more  than  twenty  thous- 
and inhabitants.  In  1860  it  had  more  than  doubled 
this  population,  recording  over  forty-five  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  in  1870  it  had  almost  doubled  again,  the 
census  reporting  more  than  seventy-one  thousand  persons 
for  that  year.  In  the  same  year  Milwaukee  received 
18,466,167  bushels  of  wheat,  actually  exceeding  Chicago 
by  about  a  million  of  bushels.  The  shipments  of  wheat 
the  same  year  were  16,027,780  bushels,  and  of  flour 
1,225,340  barrels.  Her  exports  for  that  year  also  in- 
cluded butter,  hops,  lumber,  wool  and  shingles,  of  all 
which  commodities  she  shipped  immense  quantities. 
From  1870  to  1880  the  increase  of  population  and 
commerce  was  equally  astonishing,  while  her  manu- 
factures had  grown  in  like  proportion. 

The  vast  lumber  regions  to  the  northwest  help  to 
build  up  her  business;  new  towns  which  spring  up 
throughout  the  State  become  tributary  to  her ;  and  the 
farms  which  are  multiplying  in  that  fertile  region  send 
a  share  of  their  products  to  find  a  gateway  through  her 
to  the  eastern  markets  and  to  Europe.  She  divides 
with  Chicago  the  trade  which,  by  means  of  the  great 
lakes  and  the  great  railway  trunk  lines,  is  busy  going  to 
and  fro  in  the  land,  from  east  to  west  and  from  west  to 
east.  When  the  Northern  Pacific  Railway  furnishes  a 
continuous  route  of  travel  and  freight  between  Lake 
Superior  and  the  Northern  Pacific  States,  the  business  of 
Milwaukee  will  be  naturally  augmented.  But  her 
future  prosperity  depends  largely  upon  the  prosperity 
of  the  agricultural  population  which  surrounds  her, 
which  fills  her  elevators  and  warehouses,  and  fur- 
nishes freight  for  her  boats  with  its  products,  and  has 


MILWAUKEE.  230 

need  of  her  manufactures  in  return.  And  thus  we 
see  illustrated  the  fundamental  principle  of  political 
economy,  that  that  which  concerns  one  must  concern 
all;  that  one  class  or  section  of  people  cannot  suffer 
without  affecting  in  some  degree  all  classes  and  sec- 
tions. All  are  interdependent,  and  all  must  stand  or 
fall  t/ogether. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MONTREAL. 

Thousand  Islands. — Long  Sault  Rapids. — I/achine  Rapids,"  • 
Victoria  Bridge. — Mont  Real. — Early  History  of  Montreal. — Its 
Shipping  Interests.  — Quays.  — Manufactures.  — Population.  — 
Roman  'Catholic  Supremacy.  — Churches.  — Nunneries.  — 
Hospitals.  — Colleges.  — Streets.  — Public  Buildings.  — Victoria 
Skating  Rink. — Sleighing. — Early  Disasters. — Points  of  Interest. 
—The  "Canucks." 

r~TlHE  traveler  who  visits  Montreal  should,  if 
J_  possible,  make  his  approach  to  that  city  by  a 
descent  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  that  he  may  become 
acquainted  with  some  of  the  most  beautiful  scenery  in 
America.  Leaving  Kingston,  at  the  outlet  of  Luke 
Ontario,  he  will  wind  his  way  through  the  mazes  of  the 
Thousand  Islands,  which  will  seem  to  him  as  if  belong- 
ing to  an  enchanted  country.  These  islands,  situated  at 
the  head  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  extend  down  the  river  for 
a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  and  are  innumerable  and  of 
every  size  and  shape.  Wolf  Island,  about  fifteen  miles 
in  length,  is  the  largest;  while  some  of  the  smallest 
seem  like  mere  flower-pots  rising  out  of  the  water,  with 
but  a  single  plant.  They  are  most  picturesque  in 
appearance,  their  rocky  foundations  being  veiled  and 
softened  by  the  trees  and  shrubbery  which  cover  them. 
In  past  ages  mythology  would  have  made  these  islands 
the  sacred  abodes  of  the  gods,  and  peopled  their  woods 
and  dells  with  nymphs  and  fauns,  while  the  intervening 
channels  would  have  been  presided  over  by  naiads.  A 
little  more  than  a  generation  ago,  a  sing'f.  inhabitant,  a 

236 


MONTREAL.  237 

freebooter,  who  leveled  toll  upon  the  passers  up  and 
down  the  river,  and  who  concealed  his  ill-gotten  booty 
in  his  numerous  lurking-places  in  the  islands,  turned 
this  terrestrial  paradise  into  a  pirate's  den.  To-day  the 
Thousand  Islands  have  become  famous  summer  resorts 
for  the  denizens  of  our  northern  cities ;  and  large  and 
small  are  studded  with  attractive  cottages  and  imposing 
villas.;  while  nature,  already  so  beautiful  in  its  wild 
state,  has  been  trained  into  the  tamer  beauty  of  modern 
landscape  gardening. 

Beyond  the  islands  the  majestic  St.  Lawrence  rolls  on 
until  it  reaches  the  rapids,  celebrated  in  song  by  Thomas 
Moore.  Here  the  river  narrows,  and  the  current  rushes 
impetuously  over  and  between  the  rocks  which  jut  from 
its  bottom ;  while  the  pilot,  with  watchfulness  and  skill, 
guides  the  boat  through  the  treacherous  channel,  and 
lands  her  safely  in  the  smoother  waters  beyond.  These 
rapids  are  known  as  the  Long  Sault  Rapids,  and  are 
nine  miles  in  length.  A  raft  will  drift  this  whole 
distance  in  forty  minutes.  The  passage  of  boats  down 
these  rapids  was  considered  impossible  until  1840,  when 
the  famous  Indian  pilot,  Teronhiah6r6,  after  watching 
the  course  of  rafts  down  the  stream,  attempted  it,  and 
discovered  a  safe  channel  for  steamboats.  Many  of  the 
pilots  are  still  Indians,  who  exhibit  great  skill  and 
courage  in  the  undertaking.  There  has  never  yet  been 
a  fatal  accident  in  shooting  these  rapids.  The  Cornwall 
Canal,  eleven  miles  long,  permits  vessels  to  go  around 
the  rapids  in  ascending  the  river. 

The  Lachiue .  Rapids,  nine  miles  above  Montreal, 
although  the  shortest,  are  the  most  dangerous.  It  is 
easy  enough  to  descend  these  rapids,  if  one  is  not 
particular  as  to  results;  but  it  is  difficult  enough  tc 


238      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

descend  them  safely.  The  faint-hearted  had  bette* 
commit  themselves  to  thte  more  placid  waters  of  the 
canal,  or  take  to  the  railroad.  But  to  the  brave 
traveler  there  is  a  certain  exhilaration  in  thus  toying 
with  and  conquering  danger.  The  rapids  fairly  passed, 
one  can  distinguish  the  long  line  and  graceful  archways 
of  the  Victoria  Bridge,  and  the  towers  and  spires  of 
Montreal. 

Montreal  is  on  an  island  thirty-two  miles  in  length, 
and  with  a  width  at  its  widest  of  ten  miles.  It  is  at 
the  junction  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Ottawa,  both  of 
them  noble  rivers,  and  is  connected  with  the  mainland 
by  two  bridges,  one  of  them  spanning  the  Ottawa  by  a 
series  of  immense  arches ;  and  the  other,  the  Victoria 
bridge,  thrown  across  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  length  of 
the  latter  bridge  is  nearly  two  miles.  It  rests  upon 
twenty-three  piers  and  two  abutments  of  solid  masonry, 
the  central  span  being  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
long.  Its  total  cost  was  about  $6,300,000.  It  was 
formally  opened  to  the  public  by  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to  America  during  the 
summer  of  1 860.  The  railway  track  runs  through  an 
iron  tube,  twenty-two  feet  high  and  sixteen  feet  wide. 
The  river  rolls  nearly  a  hundred  feet  below,  in  summer 
a  sweeping  flood,  and  in  winter  a  sort  of  glacier,  the  ice 
masses  piled  and  heaped  upon  one  another,  as  they  have 
been  upheaved  or  hurled  in  the  contentions  between  the 
current  and  the  frost-king. 

The  city  of  Montreal  is  distinctly  outlined  against 
Mount  Royal  or  Mont  Real,  which  rises  back  of  it,  its 
edifices  showing  dark  and  gray,  except  where  the  sun 
catches  its  numerous  tin  roofs,  making  them  glitter  like 
burnished  steel.  It  takes  its  name  from  Mont  Real,  the 


MONTREAL.  239 

mountain  already  referred  to,  which  closes  it  in  on  one 
side,  and  rises  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the 
river.  Its  eastern  suburb,  still  known  as  Hochelaga, 
was  the  site  of  an  Indian  village  when  it  was  discovered, 
in  1535,  by  Jacques  Cartier,  and  this  explorer  it  was 
who  gave  the  name  to  the  mountain.  In  1642,  just 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  discovery  of 
America,  it  was  settled  by  the  French,  retaining  its 
Indian  name  for  a  century  later,  when  that  appellation 
was  replaced  by  the  French  one  of  "  Ville  Marie."  In 
1761  the  city  came  into  the  possession  of  the  British, 
and  received  its  present  name.  In  1775  it  was 
captured  by  the  Americans  under  General  Montgomery, 
and  held  by  them  until  the  following  summer. 

Montreal  was,  under  both  French  and  British  rule,  an 
outpost  of  Quebec  until  1832,  when  it  became  a  sepa- 
rate port.  The  shallower  parts  of  the  river  being  deepened 
above  Quebec,  Montreal  became  accessible  to  boats  draw- 
ing from  nineteen  to  twenty-two  feet  of  water.  It  is 
now  the  chief  shipping  port  of  Canada.  It  is  five 
hundred  miles  from  the  sea,  and  ninety  miles  above 
tidewater ;  and  being  at  the  head  of  ship  navigation  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  great  chain  of 
inland  lakes,  rivers  and  canals  which  connect  it  with 
the  very  centre  of  the  American  continent,  its  commerce 
is  very  important.  At  the  confluence  of  the  Ottawa 
with  the  St.  Lawrence,  it  is  also  the  outlet  of  a  vast 
lumber  country.  It  feels,  however,  the  serious  disad- 
vantage of  being,  for  five  months  in  the  year,  blockaded, 
and  made,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  an  inland  city,  by 
the  closing  of  navigation  during  the  winter.  Then,  by 
means  of  the  Grand  Trunk  and  other  railways,  it  be- 
comes tributary  to  Portland,  Maine,  and  finds,  at  that 


240       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

city,  a  port  for  its  commerce.  Its  two  miles  of  quays, 
including  the  locks  and  stone-cut  wharves  of  the  Lachine 
Canal,  all  built  of  solid  limestone,  would  do  credit  to  any 
city  in  the  world  ;  while  a  broad  wall  or  esplanade  ex- 
tends between  these  quays  and  the  houses  which  over- 
look the  river.  Montreal  takes  a .  front  rank  in  its 
manufacturing  interests,  which  embrace  all  kinds  of 
agricultural  and  mechanical  implements,  steam  engines, 
printing  types,  India-rubber  shoes,  paper,  furniture, 
woolens,  cordage  and  flour.  In  1874  its  exports  were 
valued  at  over  twenty-two  millions  of  dollars. 

The  population  of  Montreal  in  1779  was  only  about 
seven  thousand  inhabitants.  In  1861  it  had  increased 
to  70,323;  and  in  1871  the  census  returns  made  the 
population  115,926.  Of  these  inhabitants,  probably 
more  than  one-half  are  Roman  Catholics,  representing 
a  great  variety  of  nationalities,  among  which,  however, 
French  Canadians  and  Irish  predominate.  The  Catho- 
lics were,  at  first,  under  French  dominion,  in  exclusive 
possession  of  the  city,  and  the  different  religious  societies 
gained  vast  wealth.  Ever  since  Canada  has  passed  .into 
the  hands  of  England  they  still  hold  their  own,  and 
exercise  an  influence  over  the  people,  and  display  a 
magnificence  in  their  edifices  and  appointments,  un- 
known in  other  sections  of  America. 

No  city  of  the  same  size  in  the  United  States  has  such 
splendid  churches.  The  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of 
Notre  Dame,  fronting  on  the  Place  d'Armes,  is  the 
largest  on  the  continent.  It  is  two  hundred  and  forty- 
one  feet  in  length,  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet 
in  width,  and  is  capable  of  seating  more  than  ten 
thousand  persons.  It  is  a  massive  structure,  built  of 
stone,  in  the  Gothic  style,  with  a  tower  at  each  corner, 


MONTREAL.  241 

and  one  in  the  middle  of  each  flank,  numbering  six  in 
all.  The  towers  on  the  main  front  are  two  hundred 
and  twelve  feet  high,  and  furnish  to  visitors  a  magnifi- 
cent view  of  the  city.  In  one  of  these  towers  is  a  fine 
chime  of  bells,  the  largest  of  which,  the  "  Gros  Bour- 
don," weighs  twenty-nine  thousand  four  hundred 
pounds.  But  as  large  as  is  this  cathedral,  it  will  be 
surpassed  in  size  by  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Peter,  now  in 
process  of  erection  at  the  corner  of  Dorchester  and 
Cemetery  streets,  and  built  after  the  general  plan  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome.  This  cathedral  will  be  three  hundred 
feet  long  by  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  wide  at  the 
transepts,  and  will  be  surmounted  by  five  domes,  the 
largest  of  which  will  be  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in 
height,  supported  on  four  piers  and  thirty-two  Corin- 
thian columns.  The  vestibule  alone  will  be  two 
hundred  feet  long  by  thirty  feet  wide,  and  will  be 
fronted  by  a  portico,  surmounted  by  colossal  statues 
of  the  Apostles.  It  will,  when,  completed,  be  by  far 
the  finest  and  largest  church  edifice  in  America.  St. 
Patrick's  Church  at  the  west  end  of  Lagauchere  street, 
is  noticeable  for  its  handsome  Gothic  windows  of 
stained  glass,  and  will  seat  five  thousand  persons.  The 
Church  of  the  Gesii,  in  Blewry  street,  has  the  finest 
interior  in  the  city,  the  vast  nave,  seventy-five  feet  in 
height,  being  bordered  by  rich  composite  columns,  and 
the  walls  and  ceilings  beautifully  frescoed. 

The  Roman  Catholic  churches  undoubtedly  exceed 
in  size  and  number  those  of  the  Protestants,  though 
some  of  the  latter  are  worthy  of  note.  Christ  Church 
Cathedral — Episcopal,  in  St.  Catherine  street,  is  the 
most  perfect  specimen  of  English  Gothic  architecture  in 
America.  It  is  built  of  rough  Montreal  stone,  with 


242       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Caen  stone  facings,  cruciform,  and  surmounted  by  a 
spire  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  high.  St. 
Andrew's  Church — Presbyterian,  in  Radegonde  street, 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  Gothic  architecture,  being  an 
imitation,  on  a  reduced  scale,  of  Salisbury  Cathedral. 
Zion  Church — Independent,  in  Radegonde  street,  near 
Victoria  Square,  was  the  scene  of  the  riot  and  loss  of 
life  on  the  occasion  of  Gavazzi's  lecture  in  1852. 

Like  Quebec,  Montreal  is  famous  for  its  nunneries. 
The  Gray  Nunnery,  founded  in  1692,  for  the  care  of 
lunatics  and  children,  is  situated  in  Dorchester  street. 
This  nunnery  owns  Nun's  Island,  in  Lake  St.  Louis, 
above  Montreal,  once  an  Indian  burial  ground,  but 
now  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  In  Notre  Dame 
street,  near  the  Place  d'Armes,  is  the  Black  or  Congre- 
gational Nunnery,  which  dates  from  1659,  and  is 
devoted  to  the  education  of  girls.  At  Hochelaga  is  the 
Convent  of  the  Holy  Name  of  Mary.  The  Hotel 
Dieu,  founded  in  1644,  for  the  cure  of  the  sick,  and  St. 
Patrick's  Hospital,  are  both  under  the  charge  of  the 
Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  The  Christian  Brothers  have 
control  of  numerous  schools,  and  render  material  aid 
to  morality  and  religion.  The  Seminary  of  St.  Sulspice 
is  a  large  and  stately  building,  devoted  to  the  education 
of  Catholic  priests.  Nuns  and  priests  are  familiar 
objects  upon  the  streets,  and  not  always  a  welcome  sight 
to  the  Protestant  eye;  nevertheless,  the  good  works  in 
which  they  engage  are  numerous  and  not  to  be  under- 
valued. 

The  number  of  hospitals,  scientific  institutions, 
libraries,  reading-rooms,  schools  and  universities  of 
Montreal  is  remarkable.  Many  of  them  are  under 
Catholic  control,  and  all  are  worthy  of  a  highly 


MONTREAL.  243 

civilized  and  prosperous  community.  First  among  the 
educational  institutions  of  the  city  is  McGill  College, 
founded  by  a  bequest  of  the  Hon.  James  McGill,  in 
1811,  and  erected  into  a  university,  by  royal  charter,  in 
1821.  It  is  beautifully  situated  at  the  base  of  Mount 
Royal,  and,  besides  a  large  corps  of  able  professors, 
possesses  one  of  the  finest  museums  in  the  country. 

Montreal  is  a  beautiful  city.  Its  public  buildings 
are  constructed  of  solid  stone,  in  which  a  handsome 
limestone,  found  in  the  neighborhood,  predominates. 
Its  churches,  banks,  hospitals  and  colleges  are  all 
edifices  of  which  to  be  proud.  Its  private  dwellings 
are,  a  majority  of  them,  substantially  built,  while  many 
of  the  roofs,  cupolas  and  spires  are  covered  with  metal, 
which,  seen  at  a  distance,  glitters  in  the  sun.  The  most 
elegant  private  residences  are  found  upon  the  slope  of 
Mont  Real,  surrounded  by  ample  grounds  containing 
fine  lawns,  trees  and  shrubbery.  From  these  hillside 
residences  the  scenery  is  most  lovely,  looking  over  a 
panorama  of  city,  river  and  country,  with  the  blue 
tops  of  the  mountain  ranges  of  New  York,  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire  plainly  perceptible  on  clear 
days. 

St.  Paul  street  is  the  chief  commercial  thoroughfare, 
and  extends  nearly  parallel  to  the  river,  but  a  square  or 
two  back  from  it,  the  whole  length  of  the  city.  Com- 
missioner street  faces  the  quays  and  monopolizes  much 
of  the  wholesale  trade.  McGill,  St.  James  and  Notre 
Dame  are  also  important  business  streets.  Great  St. 
James  and  Notre  Dame  streets  are  the  fashionable  prome- 
nades, while  Catherine,  Dorchester  and  Sherbrook  streets 
contain  the  finest  private  residences.  At  the  intersection 
of  McGill  and  St.  James  streets,  in  a  small  public  square, 


244      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

called  Victoria  Square,  is  a  fountain  and  a  bronze  statue 
of  Queen  Victoria.  A  number  of  fine  buildings  surround 
this  square,  prominent  among  which  are  the  Albert 
buildings  and  the  beautiful  Gothic  structure  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

Bontecour's  Market,  a  spacious  stone  edifice  in  the 
Doric  style,  is  one  of  the  handsomest  buildings  in  the 
city.  It  fronts  the  river  at  the  corner  of  St.  Paul  and 
Water  streets,  is  three  stories  high,  surmounted  by  a 
dome,  from  which  the  view  is  exceptionally  fine.  The 
new  City  Hall,  at  the  head  of  Jacques  Cartier  Square, 
containing  the  offices  of  the  various  civil  and  corporate 
functionaries,  is  an  elegant  structure,  spacious  and  per- 
fect in  all  its  appointments.  The  Court  House,  in  Notre 
Dame  street,  is  three  hundred  feet  long  by  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  feet  wide,  in  the  Doric  style,  and 
erected  at  a  cost  of  over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
It  includes  a  law  library  of  six  thousand  volumes. 
Back  of  it  is  the  Champs  de  Mars,  a  fine  military 
parade  ground.  The  Custom  House  is  between  St. 
Paul  street  and  the  river,  on  the  site  of  an  old  market- 
place, and  is  a  massive  structure  with  a  fine  tower. 
The  Post  Office  is  an  elegant  building  near  the  Place 
d'Armes,  in  great  St.  James  street.  In  the  Place 
d'Armes,  is  the  Bank  of  Montreal  and  the  City  Bank, 
Masonic  Hall,  the  headquarters  of  the  Masons  of  Canada, 
and  several  other  of  the  principal  banks  of  the  city. 
Mechanics'  Institute,  in  great  St.  James  street,  though 
plain  externally,  has  an  elaborately  decorated  lecture 
room.  The  principal  hotels  are  the  Windsor,  in  Dor- 
chester street,  one  of  the  finest  of  its  kind  in  America ; 
the  St.  Lawrence,  in  Great  St.  James  street ;  the  Ottawa 
House,  corner  of  St.  James  and  Notre  Dame  streets; 


MONTREAL.  245 

Montreal  House,  in  Custom  House  Square ;  the  Riche- 
lieu Hotel,  and  the  Albion. 

One  of  the  principal  points  of  attraction  in  both 
winter  and  summer  is  the  Victoria  Skating  Rink,  in 
Dominion  Square.  This  extensive  building  is  used 
during  the  milder  months  of  the  year  for  horticultural 
shows,  concerts  and  miscellaneous  gatherings.  In  the 
winter  the  doors  of  this  place  are  thronged  with  a  crowd 
of  sleighs  and  sleigh  drivers,  while  inside,  skaters  and 
spectators  form  a  living,  moving  panorama,  pleasant  to 
look  upon.  The  place  is  lighted  by  gas,  and  men  and 
women,  old  and  young,  with  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of 
children,  on  skates,  are  practicing  all  sorts  of  gyrations. 
The  ladies  are  prettily  and  appropriately  dressed  in 
skating  costumes,  and  some  of  them  are  proficient  in 
the  art  of  skating.  The  spectators  sit  or  stand  on  a 
raised  ledge  around  the  ice  parallelogram,  while  the 
skaters  dart  off,  singly  or  in  pairs,  executing  quadrilles, 
waltzes,  curves,  straight  lines,  letters,  labyrinths,  and 
every  conceivable  figure.  Now  and  then  some  one 
comes  to  grief  in  the  surging,  moving  throng ;  but  is 
quickly  on  his  or  her  feet  again,  the  ice  and  water  shaken 
off,  and  the  zigzag  resumed.  Children  skate  ;  boys  and 
girls ;  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  even  dignified  military 
officers.  Some  skate  well,  some  medium,  some  shockingly 
ill ;  but  all  skate,  or  essay  to  do  so.  It  is  the  grand 
Montrealese  pastime,  and  though  the  ice  is  sloppy,  and 
the  air  chill  and  heavy  with  moisture,  everybody  has  a 
good  time. 

There  is  one  other  amusement  of  the  public,  and  that 
is  sleighing.  The  winter  in  the  latitude  of  Montreal  is 
long  and  cold,  and  sometimes  the  snow  falls  to  a  depth 
of  several  feet,  lying  upon  the  ground  for  months. 


246      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

When  winter  settles  down  upon  the  city,  the  river 
freezes  over,  leaving  the  island  an  island  no  longer,  but 
making  it  part  and  parcel  of  the  surrounding  continent. 
Then  the  people  wrap  themselves  in  furs  and  betake 
themselves  to  their  sleighs,  and  glide  swiftly  along  the 
well-beaten  roads,  between  the  white  drifts.  Vehicles 
of  every  description,  from  the  most  elegant  appointed 
sleigh  down  to  the  rough  box  sled,  are  seen  upon  the 
road,  and  the  jingle  of  bells  is  everywhere  heard,  as  the 
sledges  follow,  pass  and  repass  one  another  on  the  snowy 
track.  Ladies  closely  wrapped  in  furs  and  veils,  and 
their  cavaliers  in  fur  caps  with  flaps  brought  closely 
around  ears  and  chin,  alike  bid  defiance  to  the  tem- 
perature, which  is  not  infrequently  in  the  neighborhood 
of  zero ;  and  the  blood  seems  to  course  more  quickly  for 
the  keenness  of  the  atmosphere. 

During  its  long  history,  Montreal  has  had  disas- 
ters as  well  as  successes.  Something  over  a  hundred 
years  after  its  founding  as  a  French  colony  it  was  nearly 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  a  little  later  it  became  a  favorite 
point  of  attack  during  the  two  American  wars.  But  to- 
day it  is  the  most  thriving  city  of  the  British  provinces. 
It  has  pushed  its  railway  communications  with  great 
energy,  and  so  long  as  peace  is  maintained  between 
Canada  and  the  United  States  it  will  continue  to  pros- 
per. In  the  event  of  war,  the  city  lies  in  an  exposed 
position,  and  during  the  winter  its  only  outlet,  by  rail 
to  Portland,  would  be  cut  off. 

The  Nelson  Monument  i'j  Jacques  Cartier  Square, 
and  near  it  the  old  Government  House,  will  prove 
objects  of  interest  to  the  visitor,  though  the  former  is  in 
somewhat  of  a  dilapidated  condition.  The  city  is  sup- 
plied with  water  by  works  which  are  situated  a  mile  or 


MONTREAL.  247 

so  above  it,  in  the  midst  of  beautiful  scenery.  Mount 
Royal  Cemetery  is  two  miles  from  the  city,  on  the 
northern  slope  of  the  mountain.  One  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful views  in  the  neighborhood  of  Montreal  is  the  famous 
around  the  mountain  drive,  nine  miles  in  length,  and 
passing  by  Mount  Royal  Park. 

First  settled  by  the  French,  their  descendants,  the 
French  Canadians,  form  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  population  of  Montreal.  But  whatever  they  may 
have  been  in  the  past,  they  have  degenerated  into  an 
illiterate,  unenterprising  people.  The  English,  Irish 
and  Scotch,  who  during  the  past  century  have  been 
emigrating  to  Canada  in  such  numbers,  have  monopo- 
lized most  of  the  business,  and  have  rescued  Montreal, 
as  well  as  Lower  Canada  generally,  from  a  stagnation 
which  was  sure  to  creep  upon  it  if  left  in  the  hands,  of 
the  descendants  of  the  early  French  settlers.  Arcadian 
innocence  and  simplicity  have  developed,  or  rather 
degenerated,  into  indolence,  stolidity  and  ignorance. 
The  priests  do  the  thinking  for  these  people,  who,  appar- 
ently have  few  ambitions  in  life  beyond  meeting  its 
daily  wants.  Thus,  though  the  streets  of  Montreal 
still  bear  the  old  names,  and  though  its  architecture  still 
retains  much  of  the  quaintness  which  it  early  assumed, 
the  business  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
and  Celts,  who  are  its  later  settlers ;  and  English  pluck, 
Irish  industry,  Scotch  thrift  and  American  push,  are  all 
brought  into  marked  contrast  with  the  sluggishness  and 
lethargy  of  the  "Canucks."  The  names  over  the 
principal  business  houses  are  either  English,  Scotch  or 
Irish;  and  the  sympathies  of  the  intelligent  people  are 
entirely  in  harmony  with  the  government  under  which 
they  live. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

NEWARK. 

From  New  York  to  Newark. — Two  Hundred  Years  Ago. — The 
Pioneers. — Public  Parks. — City  of  Churches. — The  Canal. — 
Sailing  Up-Hill. — An  Old  Graveyard. — New  Amsterdam  and 
New  Netherlands. — The  Dutch  and  English. — Adventurers  from 
New  England. — The  Indians. — Eate  of  Population. — Manu- 
factures.— Rank  as  a  City. 

~1VT~INE  miles,  in  a  westerly  direction,  from  New 
_L  i  York,  on  a  lovely  morning  in  the  early  autumn 
of  1880,  by  the  comfortable  cars  of  that  most  perfect 
of  all  railways,  the  "Pennsylvania,"  brought  our  little 
party  to  Newark,  which  I  had  often  heard  spoken  of 
as  the  leading  commercial  and  manufacturing  city  of 
New  Jersey. 

Situate  in  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  State,  on 
the  west  bank  of  the  Passaic,  three  miles  from  its 
entrance  into  Newark  Bay — the  city  of  Newark  occu- 
pies the  most  delightful  spot  in  a  State  famed  for  its 
beauty.  In  our  short  journey  from  New  York  we 
passed  over  broad,  level  meadows,  bearing  some  resem- 
blance to  a  western  prairie.  The  Passaic  and  the 
Hackensack  rivers  traverse  these  prairie-like  meadows, 
while  rising  abruptly  in  the  distance  you  behold  the 
historic  Bergen  Heights. 

Disembarking  at  the  conveniently  located  Market 
Street  Depot,  we  sought  and  found  a  temporary  home, 
and  then  lost  no  time  in  gratifying  our  ifative  curiosity, 
by  exploring  the  city  and  learning  something  of  its 
origin  and  history. 

248 


NEWARK.  249 

Newark  is  over  two  hundred  years  old,  and  yet  is 
regularly  laid  out ;  its  wide  and  well  paved  streets  are 
adorned  and  shaded  with  grand  old  elms — some  of  them 
coeval  with  the  founding  of  the  city.  Its  chief  business 
thoroughfare,  Broad  street,  running  north  and  south, 
through  the  central  part  of  the  city,  has  many  fine  busi- 
ness blocks,  and  a  finer  avenue  cannot  be  found  than  the 
south  end  of  Broad  street,  lined  with  wide-spreading 
elms,  and  extending,  apparently,  into  infinitude.  One 
peculiarity  that  absorbed  my  attention,  was  the  vast 
number  of  manufacturing  establishments  here,  located, 
for  the  most  part,  outside  of  the  central  streets,  and  these 
are  doubtless  the  source  of  her  prosperity. 

About  two  hundred  years  ago  Newark  was  an  obscure 
hamlet  of  some  sixty  odd  settlers,  and  in  that  period 
has  grown  into  a  city  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  handful  of  original  settlers 
were,  for  the  most  part,  upright,  earnest  and  sturdy 
mechanics,  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood,  and  they  laid  the 
foundation  of  what  is  now  one  of  the  most  important 
cities  of  the  Union,  ranking,  indeed,  among  the  foremost 
of  the  world's  industrial  bee-hives — a  monster  work- 
shop, whose  skilled  labor  cannot  well  be  surpassed 
anywhere.  They  called  their  village  after  the  old 
English  town  of  Newark-on-Trent ;  and  Newark-on 
Passaic  has  now  grown  into  a  city  ten  times  greater 
than  its  ancient  namesake. 

The  public  parks  possess  a  startling  interest  to  the 
stranger  visiting  Newark  for  the  first  time.  Seldom 
have  I  found  so  many,  and  of  such  extent,  in  a  city  that 
measures  only  five  miles  long,  by  five  broad.  Possessed 
of  such  breathing  places,  a  town  must  of  necessity  be 
healthy,  and  I  accordingly  found  this  strongly  indicated 


250      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

in  the  faces  of  all  I  met,  more  especially  of  the  blooming 
young  maidens  and  their  mammas.  We  are  told  that 
when  the  first  settlers  purchased  the  site  of  Newark  and 
its  surrounding  lands,  of  the  native  Indians,  and  laid 
out  their  embryo  city,  they  wisely  reserved  certain  tracts 
for  public  purposes,  and  that  most  of  these  still  exist  as 
ornaments  of  the  city.  Besides  those  set  apart  for 
churches  and  graveyards,  the  principal  reservations  were 
the  "  Training-place,"  the  "  Market-place,"  and  the 
"  Watering-place."  The  Training-place  is  now  Military 
Park,  on  the  east  side  of  Broad  street,  near  its  centre ; 
and  the  Market-place  is  now  Washington  Park.  These 
and  several  others  in  various  parts  of  this  favored  city, 
form  delightful  retreats  from  the  sun's  rays — shaded  by 
majestic  elms — a  veritable  rus  in  urbe.  The  suburbs 
also  are  passing  beautiful,  extending  to  Orange  on  the 
west,  and  to  within  a  mile  of  Elizabeth  on  the  south — 
both  busy  towns. 

Like  Brooklyn,  Newark  may  be  called  a  city  of 
churches,  and  its  enlightened  and  industrious  citizens 
are  a  church-going  people.  The  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  dates  from  1663;  and  the  First  Presbyterian 
from  1667.  These  were  the  parent  churches,  and  their 
progeny  are  manifold  and  prosperous,  as  noted  in  the 
exceptionally  high  standard  of  morality  that  generally 
characterizes  the  peaceful  workers  in  this  hive  of 
industry. 

I  was  especially  struck  with  the  canal  which  flows 
under  Broad  street,  and  the  ingenuity  displayed  in 
surmounting  a  hill  that  crosses  it,  by  the  barges 
navigating  its  waters.  Here  it  may  be  almost  said 
that  among  their  numberless  other  inventions,  the  in- 
habitants of  Newark  have  discovered  the  art  of  sailing 


NEWARK.  251 

tip  a  hill !  Instead  of  a  lock,  by  which  similar  diffi- 
culties of  inland  navigation  are  usually  overcome,  the 
barges  are  drawn  in  a  cradle  up  an  inclined  plane,  by 
means  of  a  stationary  steam  engine  placed  at  the  top  of 
the  hill,  where  the  canal  recommences,  and  the  barges 
are  re-launched  to  continue  their  course  westward. 

In  my  rambles  down  Broad  street,  on  its  well-paved 
sidewalk,  flanked  by  flourishing  stores,  in  which  every 
commodity,  from  a  five  hundred  dollar  chronometer 
down  to  a  ten  cent  pair  of  men's  socks,  is  presented  for 
sale,  I  stopped  at  an  arched  gateway  on  my  right,  my 
attention  being  arrested  by  a  patch  of  green  sward 
behind  it.  The  gate  stood  invitingly  open,  and  passing 
through,  I  found  myself  in  a  venerable  and  disused 
graveyard. 

"  This  is  the  oldest  of  the  city  graveyards,"  said  an 
elderly  gentleman,  to  whom  I  addressed  myself  for 
information,  "and  is  of  the  same  age  as  the  city  itself. 
It  is  the  resting-place  of  many  of  the  original  inhabit- 
ants. The  first  church  of  Newark  stood  here,  and 
around,  you  will  observe,  are  tombs,  bearing  dates  of 
two  centuries  ago."  Such,  I  found,  on  investigation,  to 
be  the  case.  These  old  stones — most  of  their  inscrip- 
tions now  undecipherable, — were  erected  to  commemorate 
the  dead  colonists'  names  and  virtues,  more  than  one 
hundred  years  before  Washington  was  born,  or  they  had 
dreamed  of  casting  off  the  authority  of  mother  England. 
I  reflected :  what  was  Newark  like  in  those  far-away 
days,  two  hundred  years  ago?  How  did  she  compare 
with  Newark  in  the  year  of  grace  1880? 

In  1608  Henry  Hudson  descended  the  noble  river 
which  bears  his  name,  and  the  settlement  of  New  Amster- 
dam by  the  Hollanders  soon  followed.  Next,  New 


252      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Netherlands  was  added  to  the  territory  of  the  Dutchmen, 
then  a  great  maritime  people.  Down  to  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  the  colonization  of  New  Nether- 
lands, on  the  western  banks  of  the  Hudson,  had  made 
but  little  progress.  It  was  all  a  wilderness,  peopled 
only  by  Indians.  The  white  man  had  scarcely  penetrated 
its  fertile  valleys.  The  story  is  told,  however,  that 
some  of  Hudson's  hardy  crew  had  sailed  in  their  boats 
through  the  Kitt-von-Kule,  at  the  north  of  what  is  now 
Staten  Island,  and  passed  northward  into  the  Passaic 
River.  The  enterprising  Dutch  traders  were  no  doubt 
fully  cognizant  of  the  boundless  possibilities  of  the 
country,  whose  fairest  spot  was  destined  to  form  the  site 
of  the  city  of  Newark. 

•  But  these  Dutchmen  were  only  lawless  adventurers. 
By  right  of  discovery,  a  priority  of  title  to  all  the  lands 
in  North  America  was  claimed  by  England,  who  de- 
clared war  Tipon  Holland  and  all  her  reputed  possessions. 
New  Amsterdam  and  the  province  of  New  Netherlands 
were  among  the  first  to  succumb,  and  in  1664  England 
obtained  complete  command  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  New 
Amsterdam  then  became  New  York,  in  honor  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  brother  of  King  Charles  II ;  and  New 
Netherlands  became  New  Jersey,  in  compliment  to  the 
Countess  of  Jersey,  a  court  favorite.  To  this  conquest 
by  England  we  owe  our  English  tongue,  for  had  the 
Hollanders  vanquished  the  English,  and  retained  pos- 
session, we  should  doubtless  all  be  speaking  "low 
Dutch "  to-day,  instead  of  English.  But  this  is  a 
digression. 

Colonization  rapidly  followed  when  the  phlegmatic 
Dutchmen  were  turned  out,  and  the  first  English  gov- 
ernor of  the  province  of  New  Jersey  inaugurated  a  very 


NEWARK.  253 

liberal  form  of  government.  This  induced  many  adven- 
turers from  New  England  to  unite  their  fortunes  with 
the  colonists  of  New  Jersey.  Under  the  leadership  of 
the  enterprising  Captain  Treat,  these  New  Englanders 
proceeded  to  select  a  site  for  their  new  town.  They 
soon  found  a  spot  exactly  suited  to  their  wishes;  a  fer- 
tile soil,  beautiful  woodlands,  and  a  navigable  stream; 
while  away  to  the  eastward  was  a  wide  and  sheltered 
bay. 

In  May,  1666,  about  thirty  families,  John  Treat 
being  their  captain,  laid  the  foundation  of  Newark.  A 
conference  was  held  with  the  Indians,  which  resulted 
satisfactorily  to  all.  They  transferred  the  land  to  the 
white  men,  and  received  in  payment  for  what  now 
constitutes  the  county  of  Essex,  "Fifty  double-hands 
of  powder,  one  hundred  bars  of  lead,  twenty  axes, 
twenty  coats,  ten  guns,  twenty  pistols,  ten  kettles,  ten 
swords,  four  blankets,  four  barrels  of  beer,  two  pairs  of 
breeches,  fifty  knives,  twenty  hoes,  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  fathoms  of  wampum,  two  ankers  of  liquor,  or 
something  equivalent;  and  three  troopers'  coats,  with 
the  ornaments  thereon." 

A  few  years  later  a  second  purchase  was  made,  by 
which  the  limits  of  the  city  they  were  building  were 
extended  westward  to  the  top  of  Orange  Hill,  the 
equivalent  being  "two  guns,  three  coats  and  thirteen 
cans  of  rum." 

For  many  years,  Newark  grew  and  prospered. 
In  1681  she  was  the  "most  compact  town  in  the 
province,  with  a  population  of  500."  In  1713  Queen 
Anne  granted  a  charter  of  incorporation,  thus  making 
the  township  of  Newark  a  body  politic,  which  continued 
in  force  until  the  Revolution,  With  the  successful 


254      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

close  of  the  war,  Newark  entered  on  a  new  and  pros- 
perous era,  and  the  population  increased  very  largely. 
In  1795  bridges  were  built  over  the  Passaic  and  the 
Hackensack.  In  1810  the  population  is  given  as 
6,000,  and  in  1830  it  has  increased  to  11,000.  From 
this  date  its  rate  of  progress  has  been  very  rapid,  and 
at  the  present  time  Newark  ranks  as  the  thirteenth  city 
of  the  Union  in  population. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  chapter  without  a  few  words 
on  the  manufactures  of  Newark.  The  early  settlers 
were,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  main,  mechanics  and  arti- 
sans, and  from  this  circumstance  the  growth  of  the  city 
lay  in  the  direction  of  manufactures.  Newark,  to-day, 
is  among  the  foremost  cities  of  the  Union  in  intelligent 
industry.  So  early  as  1676  eiforts  were  made  to  pro- 
mote the  introduction  of  manufactures.  The  nearness 
of  the  city  to  New  York,  the  chief  market  in  the  Union, 
with  shipping  facilities  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe ; 
with  the  great  iron  and  coal  fields  easy  of  access,  and  a 
thrifty  and  industrious  people,  Newark  drew  to  her 
mills  and  factories  abundant  capital  and  skilled  work- 
men. She  has  contributed  more  useful  inventions  to 
industrial  progress  than  any  other  American  city.  The 
Newark  Industrial  Exposition  was  originated  in  1872, 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  an  annual  exhibition  of  her 
manufactures.  The  enterprise  has  met  with  signal 
success.  We  have  counted  no  less  than  four  hundred 
distinct  manufactories  in  operation  in  this  extraordinary 
city,  a  list  of  which  would  occupy  too  much  of  our 
space.  Hardware,  tools,  machinery,  jewelry,  leather, 
hats,  and  trunks  seem  to  predominate.  Of  the  last- 
named  indispensable  article,  Newark  has  the  most  exten- 
sive manufactory  in  the  world,  7,000  trunks  per  week, 


NEWARK.  255 

or  about  365,000  yearly  being  produced  here.  It  is  said 
that  in  the  manufacture  of  the  best  steam  fire-engines, 
Newark  ranks  first.  The  number  of  persons  finding 
employment  in  the  factories  is  about  25,000,  and  the 
amount  of  wages  paid  weekly  averages  $250,000,  or 
about  $13,000,000  per  year.  The  annual  value  of  the 
productions  of  all  her  manufactories  amounts  to  about 
$60,000,000. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  Newark  has  developed  into  one  of 
the  principal  producing  cities  of  the  United  States,  ihe 
value  of  her  diversified  manufactured  products  making 
her,  in  this  respect,  the  third,  if  not  the  second  city'  of 
the  Union. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

NEW  HAVEN. 

The  City  of  Elms. — First  Impressions. — A  New  England  Sunday. 
— A  Sail  on  the  Harbor. — Oyster  Beds. — East  Rock. — The 
Lonely  Denizen  of  the  Bluff. — Romance  of  John  Turner. — 
West  Rock. — The  Judges'  Cave. — Its  Historical  Association. — 
Escape  of  the  Judges. — Monument  on  the  City  Green. — Yale 
College. — Its  Stormy  Infancy. — Battle  on  the  Weathersfield 
Road. — Harvard,  the  Fruit  of  the  Struggle. 

T~  EAVING  New  York  b/  the  New  York,  New 
I  J  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad,  we  found  our- 
selves, at  the  end  of  a  three  hours'  ride,  in  New  Haven, 
the  beautiful  "City  of  Elms." 

Everything  here  bears  the  impress  of  New  England, 
with  the  special  peculiarities  of  Connecticut,  land  of 
smart  sayings  and  of  the  proverbial  wooden  nutmegs 
and  oak  hams.  Stepping  from  the  cars,  my  ears  were 
first  saluted  by  the  salutations  of  two  genial  Yankees, 
one  of  whom,  I  inferred  from  the  conversation,  had 
just  arrived  from  Bridgeport,  and  the  other  at  the 
depot  had  awaited  his  coming.  Compliments  were 
passed  by  the  latter,  who  saluted  his  friend  with — 

"  "Well,  old  boy,  where  have  you  been  all  summer  ?  I 
see  you  have  got  your  dust  full  of  eyes." 

The  reply  to  this  salute  was  in  entire  harmony  with 
the  interrogation,  and  both  walked  away  from  the 
station,  amusing  each  other  with  odd  maxims  and 
witty  retorts. 

It  being  our  intention  to  remain  several  weeks  in 
New  Haven,  we  decided  to  take  up  our  abode  at  a 

256 


NEW  HAVEN.  25? 

private  house,  and  with  this  object  in  view  we  started 
in  pursuit  of  suitable  accommodations.  We  soon 
discovered  that  in  the  matter  of  board  we  were  compet- 
ing with  "  Old  Yale,"  students  always  being  preferred, 
owing  to  the  prospect  of  permanency. 

A  reconnoissance  of  several  hours,  during  which  we 
saw  more  stately  elms  than  I  ever  expect  to  see  again 
in  so  short  a  period,  brought  us  to  66  Chapel  street, 
where  we  were  pleasantly  lodged,  with  an  excellent 
table,  and  favored  with  a  Yankee  landlord  from  the 
classic  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

Universal  quiet  on  the  streets,  and  an  inexhaustible 
supply  of  brown  bread  and  beans  at  the  breakfast 
table,  was  an  unmistakable  evidence  that  we  had 
reached  a  New  England  Sunday.  After  breakfast,  the 
weather  being  fine,  I  was  invited  to  accompany  some 
young  gentlemen  in  a  sail  down  the  harbor.  Being 
uncertain  as  to  the  propriety  of  such  a  proceeding  on 
the  seventh  day,  I  was  promptly  assured  that  the  Blue 
Laws  of  Connecticut  would  not  be  outraged  in  case  I 
had  taken  a  generous  ration  of  brown  bread  and  beans 
before  starting. 

A  ride  of  half  an  hour,  with  but  little  wind  in  our 
sails,  carried  us  down  through  the  oyster  beds,  to  a 
point  nearly  opposite  the  lighthouse  at  the  mouth  of 
the  harbor.  A  novel  sight,  in  my  judgment,  is  a 
multitude  of  oyster  plantations  staked  out  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  show  the  proprietor  of  each  particular 
section  his  exact  limit  or  boundary. 

To  those  of  my  readers  who  are  familiar  with  hop- 
growing  regions,  I  would  say  that  an  oyster  farm  is  not 
unlike  a  hop  field  which  seems  to  have  been  suddenly 
inundated  by  water,  leaving  only  the  tops  of  the  poles 

17 


258      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

above  the  surface.  Oyster  raising  is  one  of  the  leading 
features  of  New  Haven  enterprise,  and  the  Fair  Haven 
oysters,  in  particular,  are  regarded  among  the  best  that 
are  cultivated  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  On  our  return 
trip  up  the  harbor  the  tide  was  going  out,  and  as  the 
water  was  extremely  shallow  in  many  places,  and  also 
very  clear,  we  could  see  oysters  and  their  less  palatable 
neighbors,  clams,  in  great  abundance.  I  was  strongly 
tempted  to  make  substantial  preparation  for  an  oyster 
dinner,  but  on  being  informed  that  such  a  course  would 
be  equivalent  to  staking  out  claims  in  a  strange  water- 
melon patch,  I  concluded  to  desist,  and  contented  myself 
with  seeing  more  oysters  in  half  an  hour  than  I  had 
seen  in  all  my  life  before. 

EAST  ROCK. 

One  of  the  famous  places  of  resort  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  New  Haven  is  East  Rock,  an  abrupt  pile  of 
red-brown  trap  rock,  lifting  itself  up  from  the  plain  to 
a  height  of  four  hundred  feet.  The  summit  of  this 
monumental  pile  spreads  out  in  a  wide  plateau  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  acres,  sloping  gradually  back  towards  the 
meadow  lands  which  border  the  winding  Quinnipiac 
River.  It  is  owned  and  occupied  by  a  somewhat  ec- 
centric individual,  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Milton 
Stuart,  who  related  to  me  the  story  of  his  life  in  this 
strange  locality  since  taking  up  his  abode  here,  some 
twenty  years  ago.  On  being  told  that  I  would  commit 
to  paper  some  account  of  my  wanderings  about  New 
Haven,  he  seemed  to  take  an  especial  pleasure  in  show- 
ing me  his  grounds  and  telling  me  everything  of  interest 
concerning  them. 

With  ready  courtesy  he  pointed  out  a  heap  of  stones 


NEW  HAVEN.  259 

on  the  western  slope  of  the  bluff,  which  he  said  was  all 
that  remained  of  a  hut  formerly  occupied  by  one  John 
Turner,  who  made  a  hermit  of  himself  on  this  rock, 
years  ago,  all  because  the  lady  of  his  love  refused  to 
become  Mrs.  Turner.  He  met  her  while  teaching  in  the 
South — so  the  story  ran — and  all  his  energies  seemed  to 
be  paralyzed  by  her  refusal  to  listen  to  his  suit.  He 
came  to  East  Rock  and  built  this  wretched  hovel  of 
stone,  where  he  lived  in  solitude,  and  where  one  morn- 
ing in  that  long  ago,  he  was  found  dead  on  the  floor  of 
his  hovel.  How  many  romances  like  this  lie  about  us 
unseen,  under  the  every-day  occurrences  of  life ! 

WEST  ROCK 

is  a  continuation  of  the  precipitous  bluff  of  which  East 
Rock  is  one  extremity,  and  is  about  a  mile  further  up 
the  valley.  It  is  not  so  high  nor  so  imposing  as  East 
Rock,  and  the  view  from  its  wooded  top  fades  into  tame- 
ness  beside  the  remote  ocean  distance  and  the  flash  of 
city  spires  to  be  seen  from  East  Rock.  But  it  makes  up 
in  historical  interest  what  it  may  lack  in  other  attrac- 
tions ;  for  here,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  its 
southernmost  point,  is  located  the  "Judge's  Cave," 
famous  as  the  hiding-place  of  the  regicides  who  tried 
and  sentenced  King  Charles  the  First,  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 

On  the  restoration  of  Charles  II  to  the  throne  of  his 
father,  three  of  the  high  court  which  had  condemned 
the  first  Charles  wisely  left  England  for  the  shores  of 
the  New  World.  Their  names  were  Goffe,  Whalley  and 
Dixwell.  Whalley  was  a  lieutenant-general,  Dixwell 
was  a  colonel,  and  Goffe  a  major-general.  These  noted 
army  officers  arrived  at  Boston,  from  England,  July 


260      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

twenty-seventh,  1660,  and  first  made  their  home  in 
Cambridge.  Finding  that  place  unsafe,  they  afterwards 
went  to  New  Haven. 

The  next  year  news  came  from  England  that  thirty- 
nine  of  the  regicide  judges  were  condemned,  and  ten 
already  executed,  as  traitors.  An  order  from  the  king 
was  sent  to  the  Colonial  governors  of  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,  for  the  arrest  of  the  judges.  They  were 
thus  compelled  to  fly  for  their  lives,  and  sought  refuge 
in  the  cave  on  West  Rock,  which  afterwards  bore  their 
names.  Here  they  lived  concealed  for  some  time,  being 
supplied  with  food  by  Richard  Sperry,  who  lived  about 
a  mile  west  of  the  cave.  The  food  was  tied  up  in 
a  cloth  and  laid  on  a  stump  near  by,  from  which  the 
judges  could  take  it  unobserved. 

One  night  they  beheld  the  blazing  eyes  of  a  catamount 
or  panther,  peering  in  upon  them  at  their  cave,  and  were 
so  frightened  that  they  fled  in  haste  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Sperry,  and  could  not  again  be  induced  to  return.  Seve- 
ral large  boulders,  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  in  height, 
thrown  together,  doubtless,  by  some  volcanic  convulsions, 
unite  to  form  the  cave. 

Dixwell  afterwards  lived  in  New  Haven,  under  an 
assumed  name,  and  the  graves  of  all  three  may  now  be 
seen,  at  one  side  of  Centre  Church,  on  the  City  Green. 

The  following  inscription  is  on  a  marble  slab  over 
the  ashes  of  Dixwell,  erected  by  his  descendants  in 
1849 :- 

"  Here  rests  the  remains  of  John  Dixwell,  Esq.,  of  the  Priory  of 
Folkestone,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  England.  Of  a  family  long 
prominent  in  Kent  and  Warwickshire,  and  himself  possessing  large 
estates  and  much  influence  in  his  county,  he  espoused  the  popular 
cause  in  the  revolution  ot  1640.  Between  1640  and  1660  he  was 
Colonel  in  the  Army,  an  active  member  of  four  parliaments,  and 


NEW  HAVEN.  261 

thrice  in  the  Council  of  State ;  and  one  of  the  High  Court  which 
tried  and  condemed  King  Charles  the  First.  At  the  restoration  of 
the  monarchy  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  country,  and  after  a 
brief  residence  in  Germany,  came  to  New  Haven,  and  here  lived  in 
seclusion,  but  enjoying  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  its  most  worthy 
citizens,  till  his  death  in  1688-9." 

The  little  brown  headstone  which  first  marked  his 
resting  place  bore  only  his  initials  and  the  date  of  his 
death : — 

"J.  D.  ESQ. 
Deceased  March  Ye  18th  in  Y"  82D  Year  of  his  age  168|." 

That  was  all — his  name  being  suppressed,  at  his 
request. 

The  headstones  of  Goffe  and  Whalley  are  marked  in 
the  same  obscure  way. 

Yale  College  adds  largely  to  the  importance  of  New 
Haven,  and  the  elegant  new  College  buildings  now  in 
process  of  erection,  built  of  brown  freestone,  cannot 
well  be  surpassed  in  style  of  architecture.  "  Old  Yale" 
was  originally  a  small  school,  establishecL  in  Saybrook 
by  Rev.  Thomas  Peters,  who  lived  at  that  place,  and 
who  bequeathed  his  library  to  the  school  at  his  death. 
It  soon  acquired  the  title  of  the  "  Illustrious  School," 
and  about  the  year  1700  was  given  a  charter  of  incorpo- 
ration from  the  General  Assembly,  making  it  a  college. 

It  was  named  Yale,  after  its  greatest  benefactor,  who 
was  at  that  time  governor  of  one  of  the  West  India 
islands.  The  historian,  Dr.  Samuel  Peters,  who  wrote 
nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  said  that  Greek,  Latin, 
Geography,  History  and  Logic  were  well  taught  in  this 
seminary,  but  it  suffered  for  want  of  tutors  in  the 
Hebrew,  French  and  Spanish  languages.  He  remarks, 
incidentally,  that  "oratory,  music  and  politeness  are' 
equally  neglected  here  and  in  the  Colony."  The 


262      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

students,  numbering  at  that  time  one  hundred  and 
eighty,  were  allowed  two  hours'  play  with  the  foot  ball 
every  day,  and  were  seated  at  four  tables  in  the  large 
dining  room.  This  ancient  historian  says  the  college 
was  built  of  wood,  was  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  long 
and  three  stories  high,  besides  garrets.  In  1754  another 
building,  of  brick,  one  hundred  feet  long,  with  double 
rooms  and  a  double  front,  was  added.  About  1760  a 
chapel  and  library  were  erected,  which  was  described  as 
being  "very  elegant."  The  "elegant"  structure  of  a 
hundred  years  ago  will  soon  be  discarded  for  the  new 
one  of  brown  freestone. 

In  the  year  1717  the  seminary  was  removed  from 
Saybrook  to  New  Haven,  but  it  had  a  hard  time  in 
getting  there.  A  vote  was  passed  to  remove  the  college 
from  Saybrook,  because,  as  the  historian  says,  Saybrook 
was  suspected  of  being  too  much  in  sympathy  with  the 
Church  of  England  and  not  sufficiently  alienated  from 
the  mother  country.  But  there  was  a  division  in  the 
vote,  the  Hartford  ballot  being  in  favor  of  removing 
the  college  to  Weathersfield,  while  the  New  Haven 
party  declared  in  behalf  of  their  own  city.  A  small 
battle  grew  out  of  this  split  between  the  Weathersfield 
and  New  Haven  factions.  Hartford,  in  order  to  carry 
its  vote  into  execution,  prepared  teams,  boats  and  a  mob, 
and  privately  set  off  for  Saybrook,  seizing  upon  the 
college  apparatus,  library  and  students,  which  they 
carried  to  Weathersfield. 

This  redoubled  the  jealousy  of  the  "  saints  "  at  New 
Haven,  who  thereupon  determined  to  fulfill  their  vote, 
and  accordingly,  having  collected  a  mob,  they  set  out 
for  Weathersfield,  where  they  seized  by  surprise  the 
students  and  library.  On  the  road  to  New  Haven  they 


NEW  HAVEN.  263 

were  overtaken  by  the  Hartford  faction,  who,  after  an 
inglorious  battle,  were  obliged  to  retire  with  only  part 
of  the  library  and  part  of  the  students.  From  this 
affair  sprang  the  two  colleges,  Yale  and  Harvard. 

The  Massachusetts  Bay  people  acted  the  part  of 
peacemakers,  and  settled  the  difficulty  between  these 
two  hostile  factions,  which  resulted  finally  in  placing  the 
college  at  New  Haven.  So  it  seems  our  Puritan  ances- 
tors had  their  little  disputations  then,  much  as  our 
Alabama  and  Arkansas  brothers  do  now. 

What  a  flaming  head-line  that  college  battle  doubtless 
furnished  the  bulletin  boards  and  colonial  press  of  17171 
Imagine  a  column  beginning  with  this  : — - 

Sharp  Fight  on  the  Weathersfield  Road  I 
Large  Captures  of  Students  I 

New  Haven  Victorious  ! 

But  out  of  revenge  for  the  victory,  the  sons  of  Hartford 
were  not  sent  to  Yale  College  to  be  educated.  No, 
rather  than  go  to  Yale  they  went  much  further  away, 
at  greater  expense,  and  where  fewer  educational  advan- 
tages could  be  obtained.  What  were  such  disadvantages, 
however,  compared  to  the  satisfaction  of  standing  by 
their  party  and  ignoring  the  New  Haven  vote  ? 

But  old  Yale  grew  and  flourished,  despite  the  stormy 
days  of  its  childhood,  and  has  now  a  world-wide  repu- 
tation. Many  distinguished  men  of  letters  call  her 
"  Alma  Mater,"  and  in  all  their  wanderings  carry  her 
memory  green  in  their  hearts. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

Locality  of  New  Orleans. — The  Mississippi. — The  Old  and  the 
New. — Ceded  to  Spain. — Creole  Part  in  the  American  Revolu- 
tion.—  Retransferred  to  France.  —  Purchased  by  the  United 
States. — Creole  Discontent. — Battle  of  New  Orleans. — Increase 
of  Population.  —  The  Levee. —  Shipping. —  Public  Buildings, 
Churches,  Hospitals,  Hotels  and  Places  of  Amusement. — 
Streets. — Suburbs. — Public  Squares  and  Parks. — Places  of 
Historic  Interest.  —  Cemeteries.  —  French  Market.  —  Mardi- 
gras. — Climate  and  Productions. — New  Orleans  during  the 
Rebellion.— Chief  Cotton  Mart  of  the  World.— Exports.— 
Imports. — Future  Prosperity  of  the  City. 

AS  the  traveler  proceeds  down  the  Mississippi,  from 
its  source  to  its  mouth,  a  unique  phenomenon 
strikes  his  attention.  The  river  seems  to  grow  higher 
as  he  descends.  The  bluffs,  which  on  one  side  or  the 
other  rise  prominently  along  its  banks  in  its  upper 
waters,  grow  less  bold,  and  finally  disappear  as  he  pro- 
gresses southward.  And  if  it  should  be  the  season*  of 
high  water,  he  will  find  himself,  as  he  nears  New  Orleans, 
gliding  down  a  river  which  is  higher  than  its  bordering 
land,  and  which  is  restrained  in  its  penchant  for  destruc- 
tion, by  massive  dykes,  or  levees,  as  they  are  termed  in 
this  section. 

New  Orleans,  the  commercial  metropolis  of  Louisiana, 
known  as  the  "  Crescent  City,"  is  situated  on  the  eastern, 
or,  more  correctly  speaking,  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  which  here,  after  running  northward 
several  miles,  takes  a  turn  to  the  eastward.  Originally 
built  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  around  this  bend  in  the 

264 


NEW  ORLEANS.  265 

river,  it  has  at  the  present  time  extended  itself  so  far  up 
stream  that  its  shore  line  is  now  more  in  the  shape  of  a 
letter  S.  It  is  one  hundred  and  twelve  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  1,200  miles  south  of  St.  Louis, 
and  1,438  miles  southwest  of  Washington.  The  city 
limits  embrace  an  area  of  nearly  150  square  miles,  but 
the  city  proper  is  a  little  more  than  twelve  miles  long 
and  three  miles  wide.  It  is  built  on  alluvial  soil,  the 
ground  falling  off  toward  Lake  Pontchartrain,  which  is 
five  miles  distant  to  the  northward,  so  that  portions  of  the 
city  are  four  feet  lower  than  the  high  water  level  of  the 
river.  The  city  is  protected  from  inundation  by  a 
levee,  twenty-six  miles  in  length,  fifteen  feet  wide  and 
fourteen  feet  high.  The  streets  are  drained  into  canals, 
from  which  the  water  is  raised  by  means  of  steam 
pumps,  with  a  daily  capacity  of  42,000,000  gallons, 
which  elevates  it  sufficiently  to  carry  it  off  to  Lake 
Pontchartrain. 

The  geological  history  of  this  section  of  the  country 
is  extremely  interesting.  The  whole  region  south  of 
New  Orleans  is  made  land,  having  been  brought  down 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  western  plains,  by 
that  tireless  builder,  the  Mississippi,  which  has  heaped 
it  up,  grain  by  grain,  probably  changing  the  entire 
course  of  its  lower  waters  in  doing  so,  filling  up  old 
channels  and  wearing  itself  new  ones,  until  it  finally  ex- 
tends its  delta,  like  an  outstretched  hand,  far  out  into 
the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  river  has  a  his- 
tory and  a  romance,  all  its  own,  beginning  with  the  time 
when  French  and  Spanish,  alike,  were  searching  for  the 
"Hidden  Ri ver  "T— that  mysterious  stream  which,  accord- 
ing to  Indian  tradition,  "  flowed  to  the  land  from  which 
the  sweet  winds  of  the  southwest  brought  them  health 


266      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  happiness,  and  where  there  was  neither  snow  nor 
ice,"  and  which  was  known  by  so  many  different  names — 
and  ending  with  the  construction  of  the  gigantic  jetties, 
wjiich  have  given  depth  and  permanence  to  the  channels 
sof  its  delta. 

The  visitor  finds  the  city  very  unlike  northern  towns 
with  which  he  has  been  familiar.  To  the  Creole 
quarter  especially  there  is  a  foreign  look,  which  is 
intensified  by  the  frequent  sound  of  foreign  speech.  It 
is  as  if  one  had  stepped  into  some  old-world  town,  and 
left  America,  with  its  newness  and  its  harshness  of 
speech,  far  behind.  But  it  is  not  so  far  away,  either.  It 
is  only  around  the  corner,  or,  at  best,  a  few  squares  off. 
New  Orleans  of  the  nineteenth  century  jostles  New 
Orleans  of  the  eighteenth  on  every  hand.  It  has  seized 
upon  the  old  streets,  with  their  quaint  French  and 
Spanish  names,  and  carried  them  to  an  extent  never 
dreamed  of  by  those  who  originally  planned  them.  It 
has  reared  modern  structures  beside  those  hoary  with 
age,  and  set  down  the  post  common  school  building  and 
the  heretical  Protestant  church  beside  the  venerable 
convent  and  the  solemn  cathedral. 

The  main  streets  describe  a  curve,  running  parallel 
to  the  river,  and  present  an  unbroken  line  from  the 
upper  to  the  lower  limits  of  the  city,  a  distance  of  about 
twelve  miles.  "  The  cross  streets  run  for  the  most  part  at 
right  angles  from  the  Mississippi  River,  with  greater 
regularity  than  might  be  expected  from  the  curved 
outline  of  the  river  banks.  Many  of  the  streets  are 
well  paved,  and  some  of  them  are  shelled;  but  many 
are  unpaved,  and,  from  the  nature  of  the  soil,  exceed- 
ingly muddy  in  wet  weather,  and  intolerably  dusty  in 
dry.  The  city  is  surrounded  by  cypress  swamps,  and 


NEW  ORLEANS.  2G7 

its  locality  and  environments  render  it  very  unhealthy, 
especially  during  the  summer  season.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing its  insalubrity,  it  is  constantly  increasing  in 
population  and  business  importance.  Certain  sanitary 
precautions,  adopted  in  later  years,  have  somewhat 
improved  its  condition. 

New  Orleans  has  a  history  extending  further  back 
than  that  of  most  western  towns.  While  others  were 
making  their  first  feeble  struggles  for  existence,  their 
most  treacherous  foes  the  red-skins,  New  Orleans  was 
stirred  by  discontent  and  insurrection.  In  1690, 
d'Iberville,  in  the  name  of  France,  founded  the  pro- 
vince of  Louisiana,  and  Old  Biloxi,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Lost  River,  as  the  Mississippi  was  still  termed,  was 
made  the  capital.  The  choice  of  site  proved  a  disastrous 
one,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  moved  to  New 
Biloxi,  further  up  the  river.  Meantime,  Bienville,  his 
younger  brother,  laid  out  a  little  parallelogram  of 
streets  and  ditches  on  a  crescent-shaped  shore  of  the 
river,  in  the  midst  of  cypress  swamps  and  willow 
jungles.  A  colony  of  fifty  persons,  many  of  them 
galley  slaves,  formed  this  new  settlement.  Houses  were 
built,  a  fort  added,  and  the  little  town  received  its 
present  name,  in  honor  of  the  Regent  of  France,  the 
Duke  of  Orleans.  In  the  same  year  John  Law  sent 
eight  hundred  men  from  La  Rochelle.  They  had  no 
sooner  landed  than  they  scattered  to  the  four  winds,  a 
number  of  Germans  among  them  alone  remaining  in  or 
near  the  promised  city.  Amid  many  discouragements 
the  town  prospered,  and  when,  one  after  another,  three 
cargoes  of  women  were  sent  out  from  the  old  country, 
to  furnish  wives  for  the  new  settlers,  their  content  was 
complete.  Thus  many  of  the  proudest  aristocrats  of 


268      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ISfew  Orleans  trace  their  descent  from  these  "  Filles  de 
Casette,"  as  they  were  called,  each  one  being  endowed 
with  a  small  chest  of  property. 

Here  the  French  Creoles  were  born,  and  lived  a  wild, 
unrestrained  life,  valorous  but  uneducated,  and  became 
such  men  and  women  as  one  would  expect  to  find  in  a 
military  outpost  so  far  from  the  civilized  world.  For 
sixty-three  years  the  little  colony  struggled  for  life, 
enduring  floods  and  famines,  and  the  terrors  of  Indian 
warfare,  when,  in  1762,  the  province  of  Louisiana  was 
transferred  by  an  unprincipled  king  to  Spain.  The 
news  did  not  reach  the  remote  American  settlement 
until  1764.  It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  a  colony 
so  separated  by  time  and  distance  from  the  mother 
country  should  be  intensely  loyal,  but  the  people  felt 
themselves  to  be  French  and  French  only,  and  they 
resented  this  unwitting  transfer  of  their  allegiance  as  an 
unendurable  grievance. 

The  Spanish  Governor,  Ulloa,  did  not  land  in  New 
Orleans  until  two  years  later ;  and  though  he  showed 
himself  to  be  a  man  of  great  discretion,  and  inclined  to 
adopt  a  conciliatory  policy,  the  people  made  the  little 
town  so  hot  for  him,  that  in  two  more  years  he  was  glad 
to  return  to  Spain.  They  sent  a  memorial  after  him, 
which,  being  a  most  unique  document,  is  worth  record- 
ing, in  substance.  Says  a  recent  historian,  Mr.  George 
W.  Cable  :— 

"  It  enumerated  real  wrongs,  for  which  France  and 
Spain,  but  not  Ulloa,  were  to  blame.  Again,  with  these 
it  mingled  such  charges  against  the  banished  Governor 
as — that  he  had  a  chapel  in  his  own  house ;  that  he 
absented  himself  from  the  French  churches;  ihat  he 
inclosed  a  fourth  of  the  public  common  to  pasture  his 


NEW  ORLEANS.  269 

private  horses  ;  that  he  sent  to  Havana  for  a  wet  nurse; 
that  he  ordered  the  abandonment  of  a  brick-yard  near 
the  town,  on  account  of  its  pools  -of  putrid  water ;  that 
he  removed  leprous  children  from  the  town  to  the  inhos- 
pitable settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  river ;  that  he 
forbade  the  public  whipping  of  slaves  in  the  town  ; 
that  masters  had  to  go  six  miles  to  get  a  negro  flogged  ; 
that  he  had  landed  in  New  Orleans  during  a  thunder 
and  rain  storm,  and  under  other  ill  omens;  that  he 
claimed  to  be  king  of  the  colony  ;  that  he  offended  the 
people  with  evidences  of  sordid  avarice ;  and  that  he 
added  to  these  crimes — as  the  text  has  it — '  many  others, 
equally  just  and  terrible !' " 

In  1769  the  colony  was  in  open  revolt,  and  was  con- 
sidering the  project  of  forming  a  republic.  But  the 
arrival  of  a  Spanish  fleet  of  twenty-four  sail  checked 
their  aspirations  towards  independence,  and  paralyzed 
their  efforts,  and  they  yielded  without  a  struggle. 

In  1768  New  Orleans  was  a  town  of  3,200  persons, 
a  third  of  whom  were  black  slaves.  After  the  establish- 
ment of  Spanish  rule,  although  the  population  was 
thoroughly  Creole,  and  opposed  to  the  presence  of 
English  traders,  the  government  at  first  winked  at  their 
appearance,  and  finally  openly  tolerated  them,  so  that 
English  boats  supplied  the  planters  with  goods  and 
slaves,  and  English  warehouses  moored  upon  the  river 
opposite  the  town  disposed  of  merchandise. 

In  1776,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, the  Creole  and  Anglo-American  came  into  active 
relations  with  each  other,  a  relation  which  has  since 
qualified  every  public  question  in  Louisiana.  The 
British  traders  were  suddenly  cut  off  from  communica- 
tion, and  French  merchants  commanded  the  trade  of 


270       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  Mississippi.  Americans  followed  close  after  the 
French,  and  the  tide  of  immigration  became  Anglo- 
Saxon.  France  was  openly  supporting  the  American 
colonies  in  their  rebellion  against  England,  and  in  1779 
Spain  declared  war  against  Great  Britain,  so  that  the 
sympathies  of  the  Creoles  were  led,  by  every  tie,  to  the 
rebels.  Galvez,  then  Governor  of  Louisiana,  and  also 
son  of  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  a  young  man,  brave, 
talented  and  sagacious,  who  had  adopted  a  most  liberal 
policy  in  his  administration,  discovered  that  the  British 
were  planning  the  surprise  of  New  Orleans.  Making 
hasty  but  efficient  preparations,  with  a  little  army  of 
1,430  men,  and  with  a  miniature  gun  fleet  of  but  ten 
guns,  he  marched,  on  the  twenty-second  of  August,  1779, 
against  the  British  forts  on  the  Mississippi.  On  the 
seventh'  of  September,  Fort  Bute,  on  Bayou  Manchac, 
yielded  to  the  first  assault  of  the  Creole  Militia.  The 
Fort  of  Baton  Rouge  was  garrisoned  by  five  hundred 
men  with  thirteen  heavy  guns.  On  the  twenty-first  of 
September,  after  an  engagement  of  ten  hours,  Galvez 
reached  the  fort.  Its  capitulation  included  the  sur- 
render of  Fort  Panmure,  a  place  which,  by  its  position, 
would  have  been  very  difficult  of  assault.  In  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Manchac,  four  English  schooners,  a  brig 
and  two  cutters  were  captured.  On  the  fourteenth  of 
the  following  March,  Galvez,  with  an  army  of  two 
thousand  men,  having  set  sail  down  the  Mississippi, 
captured  Fort  Charlotte,  on  the  Mobile  River.  On  the 
eighth  of  May,  1781,  Pensacola,  with  a  garrison  of 
eight  hundred  men,  and  the  whole  of  West  Florida, 
surrendered  to  Galvez.  One  of  the  rewards  bestowed 
upon  her  Governor  for  his  valorous  achievements  was 
the  Captain-generalship  of  Louisiana  and  West  Florida. 


NEW  ORLEANS.  271 

He  never  returned  to  New  Orleans,  however,  and  four 
years  later  succeeded  his  father  as  Viceroy  of  Mexico. 
Thus,  while  Andrew  Jackson  was  yet  a  child,  New 
Orleans  was  defended  from  British  conquest  by  this 
gallant  Spanish  soldier. 

In  1803  Louisiana  was  transferred  to  France  by 
Spain,  and  great  was  the  rejoicing  of  the  Creole  colon- 
ists, who,  during  the  forty  years  of  their  Spanish 
domination,  had  never  forgotten  their  French  origin. 
But  their  joy  was  quickly  turned  to  bitterness  by  the 
news  which  speedily  followed,  that  Louisiana  had  been 
sold,  by  Napoleon  I,  to  the  United  States.  The  younger 
generation,  and  those  who  had  a  clear  apprehension  of 
all  in  the  way  of  prosperity  which  this  change  might 
mean  to  them,  were  quickly  reconciled,  and  set  about 
the  business  of  life  with  renewed  interest.  But  to  the 
French  Creoles,  as  a  class,  who,  during  their  long 
alienation  had  still  at  heart  been  thoroughly  French,  to 
become  a  part  of  a  republic,  and  that  republic  English 
in  its  origin,  was  intensely  distasteful.  This  was  the 
deluge  indeed,  which  Providence  had  not  kindly  stayed 
until  after  their  time.  They  withdrew  into  a  little  com- 
munity of  their  own,  and  refused  companionship  with 
such  as  sacrificed  their  caste  by  accepting  the  situation, 
and  adapting  themselves  to  it.  But  in  spite  of  these 
disaffected  persons,  the  prosperity  of  the  city  dated  from 
that  time.  Its  population  increased,  and  its  commerce 
made  its  first  small  beginnings. 

New  Orleans  was  incorporated  as  a  city  in  1804,  having 
then  a  population  of  about  8,000  inhabitants.  In  1812 
the  first  steamboat  was  put  upon  the  Mississippi,  though 
it  was  not  until  several  years  later  that,  after  a  period 
of  experiment  and  disaster,  success  was  attained  with 


272      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

them.  Yet  without  steamboats  the  development  of  the 
great  Mississippi  Valley,  and  the  creation  of  the  ex- 
tended cities  upon  its  banks,  would  have  been  well-nigh 
impossible.  Its  winding  course,  its  swift  current,  its 
shifting  channel,  and  the  snags  which  line  its  bottom, 
make  navigation  by  other  craft  than  steamboats  well- 
nigh  impossible.  Canoes,  batteaux  and  flat-boats  might 
make  the  voyage  down  the  river  with  tolerable  speed 
and  safety,  but  to  return  against  the  current  was  a 
difficult  thing  to  do;  and  a  trip  from  St.  Louis  or 
Louisville  to  New  Orleans  and  return  required  months. 
Where,  then,  would  have  been  the  mighty  commerce  of 
the  West,  but  for  the  timely  invention  of  the  steam 
engine,  and  its  application  to  water  craft  ? 

On  January  eighth,  1815,  New  Orleans  was  success- 
fully defended  against  the  British  by  General  Jackson, 
who  threw  up  a  strong  line  of  defences  around  the  city, 
protected  by  batteries,  and  who,  with  a  force  of  scarcely 
six  thousand  men,  defeated  fifteen  thousand  British, 
under  Sir  Edward  Packenham,  the  enemy  sus- 
taining a  loss  of  seven  hundred  killed,  fourteen  hundred 
wounded,  and  five  hundred  taken  prisoners,  while  the 
American  loss  was  but  seven  men  killed  and  six  wounded. 
The  old  battle  field  is  still  retained  as  a  historic  spot. 
It  is  four  and  one-half  miles  south  of  Canal  street, 
washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  extends 
backward  about  a  mile,  to  the  cedar  swamps.  A  marble 
monument,  seventy  feet  in  height,  and  yet  unfinished, 
commemorative  of  the  victory,  overlooks  the  ground. 
In  the  southwest  corner  of  the  field  is  a  national 
cemetery. 

The  old  city  bears  the  impress  of  the  two  nations  to 
which  it  at  different  times  belonged.  Many  of  the 


NEW  ORLEANS.    -  273 

streets  still  retain  the  old  French  and  Spanish  names,  as, 
for  instance,  Tchapitoulas,  Baronne,  Perdido,  Toulouse, 
Bourbon  and  Burgundy  streets.  There  are  still,  here  and 
there,  the  old  houses,  sandwiched  in  between  those  of  a 
later  generation — quaint,  dilapidated,  and  picturesque. 
Sometimes  they  are  rickety,  wooden  structures,  with 
overhanging  porticoes,  and  with  windows  and  doors  all 
out  of  perpendicular,  and  ready  to  crumble  to  ruin  with 
age.  Others  are  massive  stone  or  brick  structures,  with 
great  arched  doorways,  and  paved  floors,  worn  by  the 
feet  of  many  generations,  dilapidated  and  heavy,  and 
possessing  no  beauty  save  that  which  is  lent  them  by 
time. 

The  city  is  made  up  of  strange  compounds,  which 
even  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  three-quarters  of 
a  century  since  it  became  an  American  city,  do  not  per- 
fectly assimilate.  Spanish,  French,  Italians,  Mexicans 
and  Indians,  Creoles,  West  Indians,  Negroes  and 
Mulattoes  of  every  shade,  from  shiny  black  to  a  faint 
creamy  hue,  Southerners  who  have  forgotten  their  foreign 
blood,  Northerners,  Westerners,  Germans,  Irish  and 
Scandinavians,  all  come  together  here,  and  jostle  one 
another  in  the  busy  pursuits  of  life.  The  levee  at  New 
Orleans  represents  all  spoken  languages  ;  and  the  popu- 
lar levee  clerk  must  have  a  knowledge  of  multitudinous 
tongues,  which  would  have  secured  him  a  high  and 
authoritative  position  at  Babel.  The  Romish  devotee, 
the  mild-faced  "  sister,"  in  her  ugly  black  habiliments 
and  picturesque  head-gear,  the  disciple  of  Confucius,  the 
descendant  of  the  New  England  Puritan,  the  dusky 
savage,  who  still  looks  to  the  Great  Spirit  as  the  giver 
of  all  life  and  light,  the  modern  skeptic,  and  the  black 
devotee  of  Voodoo,  all  meet  and  pass  and  repass  each 


274      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

other.  All  nationalities,  all  religions,  all  civilizations, 
meet  and  mingle  to  make  up  this  city,  which,  upholding 
the  cross  to  indicate  its  religion,  still,  in  its  municipal 
character,  accepts  the  Mohammedan  symbol  of  the 
crescent.  Added  to  the  throng  which  comes  and  goes 
upon  the  levee,  merchants,  clerks,  hotel  runners,  hack- 
men,  stevedores,  and  river  men  of  all  grades,  keep  up  a 
general  motion  and  excitement,  while  piled  upon  the 
platforms  which  serve  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
water-craft  and  the  shore,  are  packages  of  merchandise 
in  every  conceivable  shape,  cotton  bales  seeming  to  be 
most  numerous. 

Along  the  river  front  are  congregated  hundreds  of 
steamers,  and  thousands  of  nondescript  boats,  among 
them  numerous  barges  and  flat-boats,  thickly  inter- 
spersed with  ships  of  the  largest  size,  from  whose  masts 
float  the  colors  of  every  nation  in  the  civilized  world. 
New  Orleans  is  emphatically  a  commercial  town,  de- 
pending in  only  a  small  degree,  for  her  success,  upon 
manufactures. 

New  Orleans  is  not  a  handsome  city,  architecturally 
speaking,  though  it  has  a  number  of  fine  buildings.  Its 
situation  is  such  that  it  could  never  become  imposing, 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances.  The  Custom 
House,  a  magnificent  structure,  built  of  Quincy  granite, 
is,  next  to  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  the  largest  build- 
ing in  the  United  States.  It  occupies  an  entire  square,  its 
main  front  being  on  Canal  street,  the  broadest  and  hand- 
somest thoroughfare  in  the  city.  The  Post  Office  occu- 
pies its  basement,  and  is  one  of  the  most  commodious 
in  the  country.  The  State  House  is  located  on  St.  Louis 
street,  between  Royal  and  Chartres  streets,  and  was 
known,  until  1874,  as  the  St.  Louis  Hotel.  The  old 


JACKSON   SQrARK   AND   OLD   CATHEDRAL,    NEW   ORLEANS. 


NEW  ORLEANS.  275 

dining  hall  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  rooms  in  the 
country,  and  the  great  inner  circle  of  the  dome  is  richly 
frescoed,  with  allegorical  scenes  and  busts  of  eminent 
Americans.  The  United  States  Branch  Mint,  at  the 
corner  of  Esplanade  and  Decatur  streets,  is  an  imposing 
building,  in  the  Ionian  style.  The  City  Hall,  at  the 
intersection  of  St.  Charles  and  Lafayette  streets,  is  the 
most  artistic  of  the  public  buildings  of  the  city.  It  is 
of  white  marble,  in  the  Ionic  style,  with  a  wide  and 
high  flight  of  granite  steps,  leading  to  a  beautiful  portico. 
The  old  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis  is  the 
most  interesting  church  edifice  in  New  Orleans.  It 
stands  in  Chartres  street,  on  the  east  side  of  Jackson 
Square.  The  foundations  were  laid  in  1793,  and  the 
building  completed  in  1794,  by  Don  Andre  Almonaster, 
perpetual  regidor  of  the  province.  It  was  altered  and 
enlarged  in  1850.  The  paintings  in  the  roof  of  the 
building  are  by  Canova  and  Rossi.  The  old  Ursuline 
Convent,  in  Conde  street,  a  quaint  and  venerable  build- 
ing, erected  in  1787,  during  the  reign  of  Carlos  III, 
by  Don  Andre  Almonaster,  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing relics  of  the  early  Church  history  of  New  Orleans. 
It  is  now  occupied  as  a  residence  by  the  Bishop. 

The  Charity  Hospital,  on  Common  street,  was  founded 
in  1784,  has  stood  on  its  present  site  since  1832,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  famous  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the 
country.  Roman  Catholic  churches,  schools,  hospitals 
and  asylums  abound,  some  of  them  dating  back  for 
nearly  or  quite  a  century. 

The  St.  Charles  Hotel  is  one  of  the  institutions  of  New 
Orleans,  and  one  of  the  largest  and  finest  hotels  in  the 
United  States.  It  occupies  half  a  square,  and  is  bounded 
by  St.  Charles,  Gravior  and  Common  streets.  The  city 


276      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

has  a  French  opera  house,  an  academy  of  music,  and 
several  theatres  and  halls.  Like  those  of  St.  Louis,  its 
inhabitants  are  passionately  fond  of  gayety,  and  places 
of  amusement  are  well  patronized.  Sunday,  as  in  all 
Catholic  cities,  is  devoted  to  recreation,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants, in  their  holiday  garments,  give  themselves  up  to 
enjoyment.  Theatres,  concert  rooms  and  beer  gardens 
are  filled  with  pleasure-seekers. 

Canal  street,  the  main  business  thoroughfare  and 
promenade  of  New  Orleans,  is  nearly  two  hundred  feet 
wide,  and  has  a  grass  plot  twenty-five  feet  wide,  in  the 
centre,  bordered  on  each  side  by  trees.  Claiborne,  Ram- 
part, St.  Charles  and  Esplanade  streets  are  similarly 
embellished.  They  all  contain  many  fine  stores  and 
handsome  residences.  Royal,  Rampart  and  Esplanade 
streets  are  the  principal  promenades  of  the  French 
quarter.  The  favorite  drives  are  out  the  Shell  Road  to 
Lake  Pontchartrain,  and  out  a  similar  road  to  Carrollton. 
The  lake  is  about  five  miles  north  of  the  city,  forty 
miles  long  and  twenty-four  wide,  and  is  famous  for  its 
fish  and  game.  Cypress  swamps,  the  trees  covered  with 
the  long,  gray  Spanish  moss  peculiar  to  the  latitude,  lie 
between  the  lake  and  the  city,  and  render  the  drive  in 
that  direction  an  interesting  one. 

Carrollton,  in  the  north  suburbs,  has  many  fine  public 
gardens  and  private  residences.  On  the  opposite  shore 
of  the  river  is  Algiers,  where  there  are  extensive  dry 
docks  and  ship-yards.  A  little  further  up  the  river,  on 
the  same  side,  is  Gretna,  where,  during  Spanish  rule,  lay 
moored  two  large  floating  English  warehouses,  fitted  up 
with  counters  and  shelves,  and  stocked  with  assorted 
merchandise. 

New  Orleans  has  a  few  small,  tastefully  laid  out 


NEW  ORLEANS.  277 

squares,  among  which  are  Jackson,  Lafayette,  Doug- 
lass, Annunciation  and  Tivoli  Circle.  The  City 
Park,  near  the  northeast  boundary,  contains  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  which  are  tastefully  laid  out,  but 
which  is  little  frequented.  Jackson  Square  has  a  historic 
interest,  it  having  been  the  old  Place  d'Armes  of  colonial 
times.  It  was  here  that  Ulloa  landed  in  that  ill-omened 
thunder  storm,  and  here  that  public  meetings  were  held 
and  the  colony's  small  armies  gathered  together.  The 
inclosure,  though  small,  is  adorned  with  beautiful  trees 
and  shrubbery,  and  shell-strewn  paths,  and  in  the  centre 
stands  Mills'  equestrian  statue  of  General  Jackson. 

The  city  is  not  without  other  objects  of  historic 
interest.  During  the  Indian  wars  barracks  arose  on 
either  side  of  the  Place  d'Armes,  and  in  1758  other 
barracks  were  added,  a  part  of  whose  ruin  still  stands, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Barracks  street.  Then  there  is 
the  battle  field,  already  referred  to,  and  many  buildings 
belonging  to  a  past  century,  some  of  which  have  dis- 
tinctive historic  associations.  Near  Jackson  Square  is 
the  site  of  the  oldest  Capuchin  Monastery  in  the 
United  States.  Sailing  down  the  Mississippi,  the 
voyager  will  reach  a  portion  of  the  stream  which  flows 
almost  directly  south.  Here  is  a  point  in  the  river 
which  bears  the  name,  to  this  day,  of  the  English  Turn. 
Up  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  sailed  one  day,  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  a  proud  English  vessel,  bent  on 
exploration  and  acquisition  of  territory  to  England. 
Threading  for  a  hundred  miles  the  comparatively  direct 
course  of  the  stream,  it  had  then  made  two  abrupt 
right-angled  turns,  when,  coming  around  a  third  point, 
in  advance  of  it,  it  saw  a  French  ship,  armed  and 
equipped,  and  bearing  down  stream  under  full  sail. 


278      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  English  ship  was  given  to  understand  that  the 
Mississippi  was  ''no  thoroughfare"  for  boats  of  its 
nationality,  and  commanded  to  turn  and  retrace  its 
course,  which  it  reluctantly,  but  no  less  surely  did. 
Hence  the  name  "  English  Turn." 

The  Cemeteries  of  New  Orleans  are  most  peculiar  in 
their  arrangement  and  modes  of  interment.  The  ground 
is  filled  with  water  uj^  to  within  two  or  three  feet  of 
the  surface,  and  the  tombs  are  all  above  ground.  A 
great  majority  of  them  are  also  placed  one  above  another. 
Each  "oven,"  as  it  is  called,  is  just  large  enough  to 
admit  a  coffin,  and  is  hermetically  sealed  when  the 
funeral  rites  are  over.  A  marble  tablet  is  usually 
placed  upon  the  brick  opening.  Some  of  the  structures 
are,  however,  costly  and  beautiful,  being  made  of 
marble,  granite  or  iron.  There  are  thirty-three  ceme- 
teries in  and  near  the  city,  and  of  these  the  Cypress 
Grove  and  Greenwood  are  best  worth  visiting. 

The  most  picturesque  and  characteristic  feature  of 
New  Orleans  is  the  French  Market,  on  the  Levee,  near 
Jackson  Square.  The  gathering  begins  at  break  of 
day  on  week-days  and  a  little  later  on  Sunday  morning, 
and  comprises  people  of  every  nationality  represented 
in  the  city.  French  is  the  prevailing  language,  but  it 
will  be  heard  in  every  variety,  from  the  pure  Parisian 
to  the  childish  jargon  of  the  negroes. 

Mardi-Gras,  or  Shrove  Tuesday,  is  observed  in  New 
Orleans  by  peculiar  rites  and  ceremonies.  Rex,  King 
of  the  Carnival,  takes  possession  of  the  city,  and  passes 
through  the  streets,  accompanied  by  a  large  retinue,  his 
staff  and  courtiers  robed  in  Oriental  splendor.  The 
city  gives  itself  up  to  mirth  and  gayety,  with  an  abandon 
only  paralleled  by  that  witnessed  in  Italy  on  the  same 


NEW  ORLEANS.  279 

occasion;  and  the  day  is  concluded  by  receptions, 
tableaux  and  balls. 

New  Orleans  boasts  a  semi-tropical  climate,  being 
situated  in  latitude  29°  58'  north.  The  summers  are 
oppressively  hot,  but  the  winters  are  mild  and  pleasant, 
with  just  sufficient  frost  to  kill  any  germs  of  disease 
engendered  by  her  unhealthful  situation.  Semi-tropical 
fruits,  such  as  the  orange,  banana,  fig  and  pine-apple, 
grow  readily  in  her  gardens,  where  are  also  cultivated 
many  of  the  productions  of  the  temperate  zone.  The 
neighboring  country  is  clothed  with  a  rich  and  luxuriant 
semi-tropical  vegetation,  and  forests  of  perennial  green, 
in  which  the  cypress  and  live-oak  predominate. 

New  Orleans  had  a  population,  in  1820,  of  27,000. 
In  1850  it  had  increased  to  116,375,  and  in  1860  to 
168,675.  In  common  with  other  cities  of  the  South, 
New  Orleans  suffered  in  her  business  interests  severely 
during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  Louisiana  having 
seceded  from  the  Union  in  1861,  New  Orleans  was  closely 
blockaded  by  the  Federal  fleet,  and  on  April  twenty- 
fourth,  1862,  the  defences  near  the  mouth  of  the  river 
were  forced  by  Commodore  Farragut,  in  command  of  an 
expedition  of  gunboats.  On  the  surrender  of  the  city 
General  B.  F.  Butler  was  appointed  its  military 
Governor,  and  held  possession  of  it  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  Its  commerce  was  entirely  destroyed  during 
that  period,  its  business  interests  crushed,  and  many  of 
its  leading  men  impoverished,  and,  in  addition,  the 
State  was  disturbed  by  intestine  troubles,  which  kept 
affairs  in  an  unsettled  condition.  New  Orleans  did  not 
rally  as  quickly  as  St.  Louis  from  the  effects  of  the  war. 
Nevertheless,  in  1870  its  population  had  increased  to 
191,418,  and  in  1874  the  value  of  its  exports,  including 


280      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

rice,  flour,  pork,  tobacco,  sugar,  etc.,  but  excepting 
cotton,  were  estimated  at  $93,715,710.  Its  imports  the 
same  year  were  valued  at  more  than  $14,000,000.  It 
is  the  chief  cotton  mart  of  the  world,  and  its  wharves 
are  lined  with  ships  which  bear  this  commodity  to 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  In  the  amount  and  value 
of  its  exports,  it  ranks  second  only  to  New  York, 
though  its  imports  are  not  in  the  same  proportion, 
which  always  speaks  well  for  the  business  prosperity  of 
a  city.  The  census  of  1880  gave  it  a  population  of 
216,140,  showing  that  its  progress  still  continues.  No 
longer  cursed  by  the  presence  of  the  "peculiar  institu- 
tion," its  former  slave  marts  turned  into  commercial 
depots  or  abolished  altogether,  and  its  population  num- 
bering to  a  greater  degree  every  year  the  industrious 
class,  New  Orleans  will  do  more  in  the  future  than 
maintain  her  present  prosperity;  she  will  build  up 
new  industries,  and  originate  new  schemes  of  advance- 
ment; so  that  she  is  certain  to  continue  her  present 
supremacy  over  her  sister  cities  in  the  South. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

NEW  YORK. 

Early  History  of  New  York. — During  the  Revolution. — Evacuation 
Day. — Bowling  Green. — Wall  Street. — Stock  Exchange. — Jacob 
Little. — Daniel  Drew. — Jay  Cooke. — Rufus  Hatch. — The  Van- 
derbilts. — Jay  Gould. — Trinity  Church. — John  Jacob  Astor. — 
Post-Office. — City  Hall  and  Court  House. — James  Gordon 
Bennett. — Printing  House  Square. — Horace  Greeley. — Broad- 
way.— Union  Square. — Washington  Square. — Fifth  Avenue. — 
Madison  Square. — Cathedral. — Murray  Hill. — Second  Avenue. 
— Booth's  Theatre  and  Grand  Opera  House. — The  Bowery. — 
Peter  Cooper. — Fourth  Avenue. — Park  Avenue. — Five  Points 
and  its  Vicinity. — Chinese  Quarter. — Tombs. — Central  Park. — 
Water  Front. — Blackwell's  Island. — Hell  Gate.  —  Suspension 
Bridge. — Opening  Day. — Tragedy  of  Decoration  Day. — New 
York  of  the  Present  and  Future. 

~T~  ESS  than  three  hundred  years  ago  the  narrow  strip 
1  J  of  territory  now  occupied  by  what  its  wide-awake 
aud  self-asserting  citizens  delight  to  term  "  The  Metropo- 
lis of  the  New  World,"  was  a  broken  and  rugged 
wilderness,  which  the  foot  of  white  man  had  never  trod, 
not,  at  least,  within  the  memory  of  its  then  oldest  inhabit- 
ants, a  few  half-naked  savages  of  the  Manhattan  tribe, 
from  whom  the  island  derives  its  name  of  Manhattan. 
In  1609  Henry  Hudson,  an  English  navigator  in  the 
service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  lauded  near 
the  present  site  of  the  Battery,  securing,  by  right  of  dis- 
covery, the  territory  to  the  States  of  the  Netherlands. 
Dutch  traders  soon  followed,  and  in  1614  a  small  fort 
and  four  houses  were  erected  in  the  neighborhood  of 
what  is  now  Bowling  Green.  The  infant  metropolis 

281 


282       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

was  christened  New  Amsterdam,  and  Peter  Minuits  sent 
out,  in  1626,  as  its  first  Governor.  He  purchased  the 
island  from  its  native  owners,  for  goods,  about  twenty- 
four  dollars  in  value.  Minuits  was  recalled  in  1631, 
his  successors  being  Wonter  Von  Twiller,  1633 ;  Wil- 
liam Krift,  1638;  and  Peter  Stuyvesant,  1647.  In 
1644  a  fence  was  built  nearly  along  the  line  of  what  is 
now  Wall  street,  and  in  1653  palisades  and  breast- 
works, protected  by  a  ditch,  were  added  along  this  line. 
These  palisades  remained  in  existence  until  near  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century. 

Peter  Stuyvesant  was  the  last  of  the  Dutch  Governors. 
In  1664  Charles  II,  of  England,  gave  the  territory  to 
his  brother  James,  Duke  of  York,  and  an  expedition 
was  sent  out  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Richard 
Nicholls,  to  take  possession  of  it.  The  fort  was  easily 
captured,  and  the  name  of  the  settlement  changed  to  New 
York.  In  1673  the  town  was  recaptured  by  the  Dutch, 
who  again  changed  its  name  to  New  Orange ;  but  the 
following  year  it  was  restored  to  the  Euglish  by  treaty. 

In  1689  Jacob  Leister  instituted  an  insurrection 
against  the  unpopular  administration  of  Nicholls,  which 
he  easily  overthrew,  and  strengthened  the  fort  by  a 
battery  of  six  guns  outside  its  walls.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  "Battery."  In  1691  he  was  arrested  and 
convicted  on  a  charge  of  treason  and  murder,  condemned 
to  death,  and  executed. 

Negro  slavery  was  introduced  into  New  York  at  an 
early  period,  and  in  the  year  1741  the  alleged  discovery 
of  a  plot  of  the  slaves  to  burn  the  city  and  murder  the 
whites  resulted  in  twenty  negroes  being  hanged,  a 
lesser  number  being  burned  at  the  stake,  and  seventy- 
five  being  transported. 


NEW  YORK.  283 

From  the  very  first  the  mass  of  citizens  of  New  York 
took  an  active  part  in  the  struggle  for  independence.  In 
1765  the  "Sons  of  Liberty"  were  organized  to  resist 
the  Stamp  Act;  in  1770  a  meeting  of  three  thousand 
citizens  resolved  not  to  submit  to  this  oppression;  and  in 
1773  a  Vigilance  Committee  was  formed  to  resist  the 
landing  of  the  tea,  by  whom,  in  the  following  year,  a 
tea-laden  vessel  was  sent  back  to  England,  while 
eighteen  chests  of  tea  were  thrown  overboard  from 
another.  On  the  eighteenth  of  September,  1776,  as  a 
result  of  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the  American  troops, 
under  General  Washington,  on  Long  Island,  New 
York  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  who  held  it 
until  the  twenty-sixth  of  November,  1783,  when  they 
evacuated  it.  The  day  is  still  annually  celebrated,  under 
the  name  of  "  Evacuation  Day." 

From  1784  to  1797  New  York  was  the  Capital  of  the 
State,  and  from  1785  to  1790  the  seat  of  government  of 
the  United  States.  The  adoption  of  the  National  Con- 
stitution was  celebrated  in  grand  style  in  1788;  and  on 
April  thirtieth,  1789,  Washington  was  inaugurated  at 
the  City  Hall,  as  the  first  President  of  the  United  States. 

In  1791  the  city  was  visited  by  yellow  fever.  In 
1795  and  1798  it  reappeared,  with  added  violence,  over 
two  thousand  persons  falling  victims  to  it  during  the 
latter  year.  It  made  visits  at  intervals  until  1805,  after 
which  it  did  not  reappear  until  1819.  It  came  again  in 
1822  and  1823,  occasioning  considerable  alarm,  but 
since  then  its  visits  in  an  epidemic  form  have  ceased. 

In  1820  the  surveying  and  laying  out  of  Manhattan 
Island  north  of  Houston  street,  after  ten  years  of  labor, 
was  completed.  The  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  1825, 
gave  the  city  a  fresh  impetus  on  the  road  to  prosperity. 


284      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  first  steam  ferry  between  New  York  and  Jersey 
City  was  started  in  1812.  In  1825  the  city  was  first 
lighted  by  gas ;  while  the  great  Croton  Aqueduct,  through 
which  it  receives  its  immense  water  supply,  was  not 
completed  until  1842. 

In  December,  1835,  the  most  disastrous  fire  ever 
known  in  the  city  destroyed  over  $18,000,000  worth  of 
property.  In  July,  1845,  a  second  conflagration  con- 
sumed property  to  the  amount  of  $5,000,000.  Both 
these  great  fires  were  in  the  very  heart  of  the  business 
portion  of  the  city. 

In  July,  1853,  an  industrial  exhibition  was  opened, 
with  striking  ceremonies,  in  a  so-called  Crystal  Palace, 
on  Reservoir  Square.  This  building,  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross,  was  made  almost  wholly  of  iron  and  glass, 
being  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  feet  in  length  each 
way,  with  a  dome  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet 
high.  The  flooring  covered  nearly  six  acres  of  ground. 
This  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1858. 

New  York  has  been  the  scene  of  several  sanguinary 
riots  within  the  past  half  century.  In  1849,  when 
Macready,  the  English  tragedian,  attempted  to  play  a 
second  engagement  at  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House, 
the  friends  of  Forrest  attacked  the  building,  resulting 
in  calling  out  of  the  military,  the  killing  of  thirty-two 
persons,  and  wounding  of  thirty-six  others.  In  July, 
1863,  a  mob,  made  up  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation, rose  up  in  opposition  to  the  draft  rendered 
necessary  by  the  requisition  for  troops  by  the  general  gov- 
ernment. For  several  days  this  mob  was  in  practical 
possession  of  the  city,  and  it  was  dispersed  only  by  a 
free  use  of  military  force.  This  mob  resulted  in  the 
death  of  one  thousand  persons,  and  the  destruction  of 


NEW  YORK.  285 

$1,500,000  worth  of  property.  In  1871  a  collision 
occurred  between  a  procession  of  Irish  Orangemen,  who 
were  commemorating  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  and  their 
Catholic  fellow-countrymen,  during  which  sixty-two 
persons  lost  their  lives. 

The  summer  of  1871  was  made  memorable  by  the 
discovery  that  the  most  stupendous  frauds  upon  the  public 
treasury  had  been  carried  on  for  several  years,  by  certain 
city  officials,  some  of  whom  had  been  extraordinarily 
popular.  A  mass  meeting,  called  at  Cooper  Institute 
on  the  fourth  of  September,  appointed  a  committee  of 
seventy-six  to  take  measures  for  securing  better  govern- 
ment for  the  city.  The  elections  in  November  following 
resulted  in  a  complete  sweeping  out  of  the  obnoxious 
officials,  many  of  whom  were  subsequently  prosecuted, 
convicted  and  imprisoned,  or  obliged  to  fly  the  country. 

New  York  City,  the  greater  portion  of  which  lies  on 
Manhattan  Island,  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Hudson  River,  some  eighteen  miles  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  Its  extreme  length  north  from  the  Battery  is 
sixteen  miles,  while  the  average  breadth  of  the  island  is 
one  and  three-fifths  of  a  mile.  The  city  has  an  area  of 
about  27,000  acres,  of  which  14,000  are  on  Manhattan 
Island,  and  about  12,000  on  the  main  land;  while  the 
remainder  is  in  the  East  River  and  the  Bay,  and 
includes  Ward's,  Blackwell's,  Randall's,  Governor's 
Ellis',  and  Bedloe's  Islands.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  the  town  of  Yonkers  ;  on  the  east  by  the  Bronx  and 
East  Rivers ;  on  the  south  by  the  Bay ;  and  on  the  west 
by  the  Hudson  River.  Manhattan  Island  is  separated 
on  the  north,  from  the  main  land,  by  Spuyten  Duyvel 
Creek  and  Harlem  River,  both  names  recalling  the 
Dutch  origin  of  the  city. 


286      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  more  ancient  portion  of  New  York,  from  Four- 
teenth street  to  the  Battery,  is  laid  out  somewhat  irregu- 
larly. As  far  north  as  Central  Park,  five  miles  from  the 
Battery,  it  is  quite  compactly  built.  Various  localities 
in  the  more  northern  and  less  densely  built-up  part  of 
the  island  are  known  by  different  names  ;  as  Yorkville, 
near  Eighty-sixth  street ;  and  Harlem,  in  the  vicinity  of 
One-hundred-and-tweuty-fifth  street,  on  the  eastern  side; 
and  Bloomingdale  and  Manhattanville,  opposite  them,  on 
the  western.  North  of  Manhattanville,  near  One-hun- 
dred-and-fiftieth  street,  is  Carraansville,  and  a  mile  and 
a  half  further  north  is  Washington  Heights ;  while 
Inwood  lies  at  the  extreme  northwestern  point  of  the 
island.  All  these  are  places  of  interest,  and  oifer 
numerous  attractions  to  the  visitor. 

That  part  of  New  York  lying  on  the  mainland,  com- 
prising the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  wards,  was 
added  to  it  in  1874,  and  contains  many  thriving  towns 
and  villages.  Prominent  among  them  is  Morrisania, 
with  avenues  running  north  and  south,  and  streets 
crossing  them  at  right  angles,  and  numbered  in  continu- 
ation of  those  of  Manhattan  Island.  Numerous  other 
towns,  with  a  host  of  beautiful  country  residences,  are 
scattered  over  the  high  and  rolling  land  of  which  this 
late  addition  to  the  area  of  the  city  is  composed ;  but 
with  the  exception  of  Morrisania  it  has  not  yet  been 
regularly  laid  out  for  building  purposes.  The  whole 
country  in  this  section  of  the  city,  with  a  romantic 
natural  beauty,  to  which  wealth  and  artistic  taste  have 
largely  contributed,  is  a  perfect  paradise  of  picturesque- 
ness. 

The  foreigner  who  visits  New  York  usually  ap- 
proaches it  from  the  lower  bay,  through  the  "  Narrows," 


NEW  YORK.  287 

a  strait  lying  between  Staten  Island  on  the  left  and  Long 
Island  on  the  right.  From  the  heights  of  the  former, 
a  beautiful  island,  rising  green  and  bold  from  the  water's 
edge,  frown  the  massive  battlements  of  Fort  Wadsworth 
and  Fort  Tompkins ;  while  on  the  latter  is  Fort  Ham- 
ilton ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  water,  gloomy  and  barren, 
is  Fort  Lafayette,  famous  as  a  political  prison  during 
the  late  war.  New  York  Bay  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful,  if  not  the  most  beautiful,  in  the  world. 
Staten  Island  rises  abruptly  on  one  shore,  with  hills  and 
valleys,  green  fields  and  trees,  villages  and  villas ;  and 
on  the  other  shore  are  the  wood-crowned  bluffs  of  Long 
Island.  Within  the  bay  Ellis'  Island  is  near  the 
Jersey  shore ;  Bedloe's  Island  is  not  far  from  its  centre, 
and  is  the  proposed  site  of  the  colossal  statue  of  Liberty 
which  France  is  to  present  to  New  York  ;  While  Gov- 
ernor's Island,  the  largest  of  the  three,  lies  to  the  right, 
between  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  Each  island  is 
fortified,  the  latter  containing  Castle  William  and  old 
Fort  Columbus. 

The  bay  is  dotted  with  the  shipping  of  every  nation. 
Ocean  steamers  are  setting  out  on  their  long  journeys, 
or  just  returning  from  foreign  shores.  The  finest  steam- 
boats and  ferry  boats  in  the  world  dart  hither  and 
thither,  like  water  spiders  on  the  surface  of  a  glassy 
pool.  Tugs,  oyster  boats,  and  sailing  vessels  of  every 
size  and  description,  are  all  represented.  It  is  a  moving 
panorama  of  water  craft.  As  the  city  is  approached, 
gradually,  frona  the  distant  haze  which  broods  over  it, 
is  evolved  the  forms  of  towers,  spires,  and  roofs,  and  all 
its  varied  and  picturesque  outlines.  The  city  presents  a 
beautiful  view  from  the  bay.  It  rises  gradually  from  the 
water's  edge,  some  portions  of  it  to  a  considerable  eleva- 


288       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

lion.  A  prominent  feature  in  its  outline  is  the  graceful, 
tapering  spire  of  Trinity  Church,  while  higher  still  rises 
the  clock-tower  of  the  Tribune  building.  Other  towers, 
spires  and  domes,  break  the  monotony  of  roofs  and 
walls.  Approaching  the  mouth  of  the  East  River,  the 
most  striking  objects  are  the  massive  towers  of  the 
Suspension  Bridge,  one  on  either  shore,  while  between 
them  is  the  bridge,  swung  upon  what  seem  at  a  distance 
like  the  merest  cobwebs. 

At  the  extreme  southern  end  of  Manhattan  Island  is 
the  Battery,  already  referred  to,  a  park  of  several  acres, 
protected  by  a  granite  sea  wall.  It  presents  a  beautiful 
stretch  of  green  turf,  fine  trees* and  wide  pathways. 
On  its  southwest  border  is  Castle  Garden,  a  circular 
brick  structure,  which  has  a  history  of  its  own.  It  was 
originally  constructed  for  a  fort,  and  was  afterwards  con- 
verted into  a  summer  garden.  A  great  ball,  to  Marquis 
Lafayette,  was  given  in  it  in  1824 ;  and  General  Jack- 
son in  1832,  and  President  Tyler  in  1843,  held  public 
receptions  there.  Then  it  was  turned  into  a  concert 
hall,  and  is  chiefly  famous,  as  such,  as  being  the  place 
where  Jenny  Lind  made  her  first  appearance  in  America. 
It  is  now  an  emigrant  depot,  and  on  days  of  the  arrival 
of  emigrant  ships,  it  is  very  entertaining  to  watch  the 
troops  of  emigrants,  with  their  quaint  gait,  unfamiliar 
language,  and  strange,  un-American  faces,  passing  out 
of  its  portals,  and  making  their  first  entrance  into  their 
new  life  on  the  western  continent. 

Just  east  of  the  Battery  is  Whitehall,  the  terminus  of 
numerous  omnibus  and  car  lines,  and  the  location  of  the 
Staten  Island,  South  and  Hamilton  ferries.  There,  too, 
is  the  depot  of  the  elevated  railways,  which  extend  in 
four  lines,  two  on  the  eastern  side  and  two  on  the 


NEW  YORK.  289 

western,  the  entire  length  of  the  city.  The  Corn  Ex- 
change, an  imposing  building,  is  at  the  upper  end  of 
Whitehall.  At  the  junction  of  Whitehall  with  Broad- 
way is  a  pretty,  old-fashioned  square,  shaded  with  trees, 
and  surrounded  by  an  iron  fence,  called  Bowling  Green. 
This  was  the  aristocratic  quarter  of  the  city  in  its  early 
days.  No.  1  Broadway,  known  as  the  "  old  Kennedy 
House,"  was  built  in  1760,  and  has  been,  successively, 
the  residence  and  headquarters  of  Lords  Conwallis  and 
Howe,  General  (Sir  Henry)  Clinton  and  General  Wash- 
ington, while  Talleyrand  lived  there  during  his  stay  in 
America.  Benedict  Arnold  concocted  his  treasonable 
projects  at  No.  5  Broadway.  At  No.  11  General  Grates 
had  his  headquarters.  A  few  of  the  old  buildings  still 
remain,  but  they  have  many  of  them  already  given  way 
to  more  modern  and  more  pretentious  structures.  The 
posts  of  the  iron  fence  around  Bowling  Green  were  once 
surmounted  by  balls,  but  they  were  knocked  off  and 
used  for  cannon  balls  during  the  Revolution.  An 
equestrian  statue  of  King  George  III,  which  once  orna- 
mented the  Square,  was  melted  up  during  the  same 
period,  and  furnished  material  for  forty-two  thousand 
bullets. 

The  stranger  in  New  York  sometimes  wonders  why  its 
principal  business  street  is  called  Broadway,  since  there 
are  many  others  which  are  quite  as  broad,  some  of  them 
even  broader.  But  if  he  will  visit  the  extreme  southern 
portion  of  the  city,  he  will  quickly  comprehend.  The 
old  streets  are  narrow,  being  scarcely  more  than  mere 
alleys,  with  pavements  barely  broad  enough  for  two  to 
walk  abreast,  so  that  Broadway,  when  originally  laid 
out,  seemed  a  magnificent  thoroughfare. 

As  already  described,  Wall  street  formed  the  northern 


290      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

boundary  of  the  young  colonial  city.  In  that  early  day, 
as  now,  wealth  and  fashion  sought  to*  avoid  the  more 
plebeian  business  streets,  and  so  withdrew  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  this  northern  boundary,  and  established, 
first  their  residences,  and  then  their  commercial  houses. 
Wall  street  then  became  what  it  has  since  remained, 
the  monetary  centre  of  the  city,  only  that  now  it  is 
more  than  that;  it  is  the  great  monetary  centre  of 
the  entire  country.  On  it  and  the  blocks  leading  from 
it,  all  embraced  in  comparatively  a  few  acres,  are  prob- 
ably stored  more  gold  and  silver  than  in  all  the  rest  of 
the  United  States  put  together,  while  the  business  inter- 
ests represented  extend  to  every  section,  not  only  of  the 
continent,  but  of  the  world. 

Nowhere  else  in  America  are  there  such  and  so  many 
magnificent  buildings  as  in  this  section  of  the  city.  The 
streets  are  narrow,  and  overshadowed  as  they  are  by 
edifices  six  or  more  stories  in  height,  seem  to  be  dwarfed 
into  mere  alley-ways.  Nearly  every  building  is  worthy 
of  being  called  a  temple  or  a  palace.  White  marble  and 
brown  stone,  with  every  style  of  architecture,  abound. 
The  United  States  Sub-Treasury  Building,  at  the  corner 
of  Wall  and  Nassau  streets,  is  a  stately  white  marble 
structure  in  the  Doric  style,  occupying  the  site  of  the 
old  Federal  Hall,  in  which  Washington  delivered  his 
first  inaugural  address.  Opposite  is  the  white  marble 
palace,  in  the  style  of  the  Eenaissance,  known  as  the 
Drexel  Building.  A  little  further  down  the  street,  at  the 
corner  of  William,  is  the  United  States  Custom  House, 
formerly  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  built  of  granite.  It 
has  a  portico  supported  by  twelve  massive  columns,  and 
its  rotunda  in  the  interior  is  supported  by  eight  columns 
of  Italian  marble,  the  Corinthian  capitals  of  which  were 


NEW  YORK.  291 

carved  in  Italy.  Opposite  this  building  is  the  handsome 
structure  of  the  Bank  of  New  York.  Banks,  and 
bankers'  and  brokers'  offices  fill  the  street,  and  are 
crowded  into  the  side  streets. 

On  Broad  street,  a  short  distance  below  "Wall,  is  the 
Stock  Exchange,  a  handsome,  but  not  large  building, 
which  in  point  of  interest  towers  over  all  others  in  the 
locality.  Here  are  daily  enacted  the  comedies  and  trage- 
dies of  financial  life,  and  here  fortunes  are  made  and 
fortunes  lost  by  that  system  of  gigantic  gambling  which 
has  come  to  be  known  as  "  dealing  in  stocks."  The 
operations  of  the  Stock  Exchange  and  Gold  Room 
concern  the  whole  country,  both  financially  and  indus- 
trially. Here  is  the  true  governmental  centre,  rather 
than  at  Washington.  Wall  and  Broad  streets  dictate  to 
Congress  what  the  laws  of  the  country  concerning  finance 
shall  be,  and  Congress  obeys.  The  Bankers'  Association 
holds  the  menace  over  the  government  that  if  their  in- 
terests are  not  consulted,  they  will  bring  ruin  upon  the 
country ;  and  it  is  in  their  power  to  execute  the  threat. 
This  power  was  illustrated  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
September,  1869,  a  day  memorable  as  Black  Friday  in 
the  history  of  Wall  street.  By  a  small  but  strong  com- 
bination of  bears,  gold  was  made  to  fall  in  seventeen 
minutes,  from  1.60  to  1.30,  after  a  sale  of  $50,000,000 
had  been  effected,  and  thousands  of  men,  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  were  ruined.  Money  was  locked 
up,  and  could  not  be  obtained  even  at  a  premium  of  one 
hundred  per  cent.  This  was  the  forerunner  of  the  panic 
which  came  four  years  later,  in  1873.  Then  the  Union 
Trust  Company  failed,  carrying  with  it  Jay  Cooke,  Fisk 
and  Hatch,  Henry  Clews,  Howe  and  Macy,  and  other 
houses.  For  the  first  time  during  its  existence  the  Stock 


292      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Exchange  was  closed.  Without  its  closing,  not  a  mer- 
chant or  banker  could  have  survived.  With  its  doors 
shut  no  contract  could  be  completed  nor  stocks  trans- 
ferrred,  and  it  gave  people  time,  which  was  absolutely 
needed,  to  do  what  they  could ;  or  else  universal  and 
overwhelming  ruin  would  have  swept  over  the  country. 
As  it-  was,  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  firms  went 
under,  and  the  stringency  of  the  times 'was  felt  through- 
out the  nation,  depressing  business  and  checking  indus- 
try, until  Congress  took  measures  for  its  relief. 

The  names  of  Jacob  Little,  Leonard  W.  Jerome, 
Daniel  Drew,  Jay  Cooke,  Augustus  Schell,  Rufus  Hatch, 
James  Fisk,  Jr.,  Jay  Gould,  Commodore  Vanderbilt, 
Wm.  H.  Vanderbilt,  and  others,  are  permanently  asso- 
ciated with  Wall  street.  Jacob  Little  was  known  as  the 
"  Great  Bear  of  Wall  street."  He  originated  the  daring, 
dashing  style  of  business  in  stocks,  and  was  always 
identified  with  the  bears.  Meeting  many  reverses,  he 
died  at  last,  comparatively  poor,  the  Southern  Rebellion 
having  swept  away  his  little  remaining  fortune. 

Leonard  W.  Jerome  was  at  one  time  financially  the 
rival  of  Vanderbilt  and  Drew,  with  a  fortune  estimated 
at  from  six  to  ten  millions.  He  assumed  an  unequaled 
style  of  magnificence  in  living ;  but  reverses  came,  and 
his  splendid  property  on  Madison  Square,  including 
residence,  costly  stables  and  private  theatre,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Union  League  Club,  and  was  occupied 
by  them  until  they  went  to  their  new  quarters  in  Fifth 
A  venue.  He  himself  is  now  forgotten,  although  a  man 
scarcely  past  the  prime  of  life;  but  his  name  is  perpetu- 
ated irf  the  Jerome  Race  Course. 

Daniel  Drew  came  to  New  York  a  poor  boy,  and,  by 
persistent  industry  and  business  capacity,  worked  his 


NEW  YORK.  293 

way  np  to  the  highest  round  of  the  commercial  ladder. 
In  1838  Drew  put  an  opposition  boat  upon  the  Hud- 
son, with  fare  at  one  dollar  to  Albany;  and  shortly 
afterward  established  the  People's  Line,  which  has  been 
so  successful.  The  panic  of  1873  aifected  him  seriously, 
but  he  staved  off  failure  until  1875.  He  died  in  1879, 
leaving  next  to  nothing  of  the  millions  he  had  made 
during  his  lifetime.  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  Fourth 
avenue,  the  Methodist  Church  at  Carmel,  Putnam 
County,  New  York,  his  native  place,  and  Drew  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  are  monuments  of  his  munificence 
while  money  was  at  his  command. 

Jay  Cooke,  having  been  already  tolerably  successful 
in  business,  amassed  his  millions  by  negotiating  the  war 
loan.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  safe  financiers  in  the  country;  but  in  1873  his  fail- 
ure was  complete,  and  he  has  not  since  been  heard  of  in 
financial  circles. 

Rufus  Hatch  is  one  of  the  successful  stock  operators 
of  New  York.  Beginning  life  with  nothing,  and  meet- 
ing reverses  as  well  as  successes,  he  is  now  known  as  one 
of  the  boldest  and  most  gigantic  of  street  operators. 

The  name  of  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  is  associated  with  that 
of  the  Erie  Railroad.  He  commenced  life  as  a  peddler. 
In  1868  he  was  appointed  Comptroller  of  the  Erie  Road, 
and  immediately  set  about  building  up  the  fortunes  of 
that  corporation.  He  appeared  on  Wall  street  as  an 
assistant  of  Daniel  Drew ;  made  himself  master  of  the 
Narragansett  Steamship  Company,  and  changed  the 
condition  of  its  affairs  from  disaster  to  success.  He  was 
one  of  the  conspirators  on  Black  Friday  of  1869.  He 
purchased  the  Opera  House  and  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Theatre,  finding  them  both  good  investments.  He 


294      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

was  shot  by  Edward  S.  Stokes,  both  himself  and  Stokes 
having  become  entangled  with  a  woman  named  Helen 
Josephine  Mansfield.  After  his  death  his  supposed 
great  private  fortune  dwindled  into  a  comparatively 
small  amount. 

Commodore  Vanderbilt  also  started  in  life  a  penniless 
boy,  and  became,  eventually,  the  great  King  of  Wall 
street.  He  built  up  the  Harlem  River  Railroad,  origi- 
nated gigantic  enterprises ;  sent  a  line  of  steamships 
across  the  ocean ;  gained  control  of  the  Hudson  River 
Railroad  and  other  roads;  and  died  in  1877,  worth  not 
far  from  $100,000,000,  the  bulk  of  which  be  left  to  his 
eldest  son,  William  H.  Vanderbilt.  The  Vanderbilt 
name  has  lost  none  of  its  lustre  in  the  hands  of  the 
second  generation.  In  less  than  ten  years,  after  a 
career  of  unequaled  brilliancy  in  the  financial  world, 
William  H.  Vanderbilt  retired,  with  a  fortune  probably 
double  that  of  his  father. 

Jay  Gould  also  achieved  success  from  small  begin- 
nings. He  was  in  company  with  Fisk  in  the  control  of 
the  Erie  Railroad,  and  an  associate  in  bringing  about 
the  disasters  of  Black  Friday.  Soon  after  the  death  of 
Greeley  he  secured  a  controlling  interest  in  the  New 
York  Tribune.  He  is  still  a  power,  in  Wall  street,  and 
a  great  railroad  magnate. 

Broad  street  still  has  historical  associations  clinging 
about  it.  At  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Pearl  streets  is 
the  famous  De  Lancy  House,  built  early  in  the  last 
century  by  Stephen  De  Lancy,  a  Huguenot  refugee 
from  Normandy.  In  this  house,  on  the  evening  of 
November  twenty-fifth,  1783,  Washington  and  his  staff, 
with  Governor  Clinton,  celebrated  the  evacuation  of 
the  city  by  the  British  troops,  and  a  few  days  later 


NEW  YOEK.  295 

Washington  bade  his  officers  farewell,  before  departing 
for  Annapolis  to  resign  his  commission.  The  house, 
having  passed  through  successive  stages  of  degeneration, 
had  at  one  time  sunk  so  low  as  to  have  become  a 
German  tenement  house,  with  a  lager  beer  saloon  on  the 
third  floor.  It  has  recently  been  renovated,  and  has 
again  put  on  an  air  of  respectability.  It  still  bears 
upon  it  the  words :  "  Washington's  Headquarters." 
All  about  it  are,  here  and  there,  the  relics  of  the  past,  in 
the  shape  of  houses  which  once  were  homes  of  the  gen- 
tility, in  colonial  times. 

Pearl  street  is  said  to  have  been  originally  a  cow-path, 
and  it  is  certainly  crooked  enough  to  justify  such  an 
origin.  It  is  the  locality  of  the  Cotton  Exchange  and 
the  cotton  brokers. 

On  Broadway,  at  the  head  of  Wall  street,  is  Trinity 
Church,  whose  spire  was,  until  a  recent  period,  the  highest 
in  the  city,  being  two  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet  in 
height.  In  the  early  days,  when  the  aristocracy  were 
seeking  the  select  neighborhood  of  Wall  street,  this 
church  corporation  established  itself  upon  the  utmost 
northern  confines  of  the  city.  Its  original  edifice  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  present  one  was  erected  in 
1846.  It  is  of  brown  stone,  in  pure  gothic  architecture, 
and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  New  York.  In  the 
rich  carving  of  the  exterior  numerous  birds  have  built 
their  nests.  It  has  stained  glass  windows,  and  the  finest 
chime  of  bells  in  America.  Within  the  church  is  a 
costly  reredos  in  memory  of  John  Jacob  Astor.  A 
venerable  graveyard  lies  to  its  north,  where  repose  the 
remains  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Captain  Lawrence,  of 
the  Chesapeake,  Robert  Fulton,  and  the  unfortunate 
Charlotte  Temple.  Some  of  the  headstones,  brown  and 


296      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

crumbling  with  age,  and  bearing  grotesque  carved 
effigies  of  angels,  date  back  for  more  than  a  century.  In 
the  northeast  corner  is  a  stately  monument  erected  to  the 
memory  of  the  patriots  who  died  in  British  prisons  in 
New  York  during  the  Revolution.  Trinity  Parish  is  the 
oldest  in  the  city,  and  fabulously  wealthy,  the  corpora- 
tion having  been  granted,  by  Queen  Anne,  in  1705,  a 
large  tract  of  land  west  of  Broadway,  extending  as  far 
north  as  Christopher  street,  known  as  the  "  Queen's 
Farm."  The  land,  at  that  time  remote  from  the  city, 
now  embraces  some  of  its  most  valuable  business  por- 
tions. It  is  all  leased  of  Trinity  Church  by  the  occu- 
pants, and  the  church,  when  the  leases  expire,  becomes 
possessed  of  the  buildings  and  improvements  upon  the 
ground,  and  is  thus  constantly  augmenting  its  wealth. 
The  claims  of  the  Jans  Anneke  heirs  involve  this  vast 
estate.  It  has  three  chapels,  one  of  which,  St.  Paul's, 
is  a  few  blocks  above,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Vesey  streets,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  graveyard  almost 
as  ancient  as  that  of  Trinity. 

At  the  north  wast  corner  of  Vesey  street  and  Broad- 
way is  the  Astor  House,  which,  when  it  was  built, 
something  more  than  a  generation  ago,  was  a  marvel  of 
size  and  splendor,  though  it  is  now  thrown  in  the  shade 
by  more  modern  structures.  John  Jacob  Astor,  its 
builder,  was  born  near  Heidelberg,  in  Germany,  in  1765, 
and  came  penniless  to  the  new  world,  to  seek  his  fortune. 
After  serving  as  a  clerk,  he  then  engaged  in  a  small  way 
in  the  fur  business,  which  eventually  grew  to  the  pro- 
portions of  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  brought  to 
its  founder  a  large  fortune,  though  no  one  outside  his 
family  ever  knew  its  exact  amount.  He  settled  most 
of  his  affairs  before  his  death,  selling  the  Astor  House 


NEW  YORK.  297 

to  his  son  William,  for  the  consideration  of  one  dollar. 
Much  of  his  property  was  in  real  estate,  which  constantly 
increased  in  value.  He  died  in  1848,  and  his  senior 
son  being  an  imbecile,  William  B.  Astor,  the  younger 
brother,  inherited  most  of  his  father's  fortune.  The  son 
became  vastly  richer  than  his  father,  dying  in  1875, 
leaving  behind  him  a  fortune  of  $50,000,000,  which 
was  mostly  bequeathed  to  his  eldest  son,  John  Jacob, 
who  is  now  the  head  of  the  house. 

The  Post  Office  stands  opposite  the  Astor  House,  on 
the  east  side  of  Broadway,  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
City  Hall  Park.  It  is  a  massive  structure,  of  Doric  and 
Renaissance  architecture,  four  stories  in  height,  beside  a 
Mansard  roof,  costing  $7,000,000. 

Half  a  century  ago  the  City  Hall  Park  was  the  chief 
park  of  New  York,  and  the  elegance  and  aristocracy  of 
the  city  gathered  around  it.  The  City  Hall  stands  in 
the  park,  and  back  of  it  is  the  new  Court  House,  still 
unfinished,  a  massive  edifice  in  Corinthian  style,  which, 
when  completed,  will  have  a  dome  two  hundred  and  ten 
feet  above  the  sidewalk. 

On  the  western  side  of  Broadway,  opposite  St.  Paul's, 
is  the  splendid  building  of  the  New  York  Herald.  The 
Herald  is  the  representative  newspaper  of  New  York, 
and  is  probably  the  most  enterprising  sheet  in  the  world. 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  its  founder,  was  born  in  Scot- 
land in  1795,  and  came  to  America  in  1819.  After 
various  literary  ventures,  he  decided  to  establish  a  paper 
which  should  embody  his  ideal  of  a  metropolitan  journal. 
On  the  sixth  of  May,  1855,  the  first  number  of  the 
New  York  Herald  was  issued,  being  then  a  small  penny 
sheet.  Mr.  Bennett  was  editor,  reporter  and  corres- 
pondent. He  was  his  own  compositor  and  errand  boy, 


298       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

mailed  his  papers  and  kept  his  accounts.  His  rule,  from 
the  very  first,  was  never  to  run  a  dollar  in  debt.  He 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  paper  which  has  no  parallel 
in  history,  while,  since  his  death,  his  son's  enterprise  has 
still  further  increased  its  scope  and  popularity.  Young 
Bennett,  the  present  proprietor  of  the  Herald,  named 
after  his  father,  was  trained  especially  for  the  duties 
which  were  to  devolve  upon  him.  He  is  thoroughly  at 
,  home  in  French,  German,  Italian  and  Scotch.  He  is  a 
skilled  engineer,  and  can  run  either  the  engines  or 
presses  of  his  establishment.  He  is  a  practical  printer, 
and  can  also  telegraph  with  skill  and  accuracy.  He  gives 
strict  personal  supervision  to  the  affairs  of  his  immense 
establishment,  which  yields  him  a  yearly  income  equal- 
ing that  of  a  merchant  prince. 

Extending  from  the  Herald  Building  northward,  on 
the  eastern  side  of  City  Hall  Park,  is  what  is  known  as 
Printing  House  Square,  including  the  offices  of  the 
principal  daily  and  weekly  papers.  The  magnificent 
granite  structure  of  the  Stoats  Zeitung  faces  this  square  on 
the  north.  The  immense  Tribune  Building,  nine  stories 
high,  with  its  tall  clock  tower,  flanks  it  on  the  east,  on 
Nassau  street.  The  Sun  modestly  nestles  in  the  shadow 
of  the  Tribune.  The  Times  Building  is  found  on  Park 
Row,  where  also  is  the  World  office.  Truth  lurks  in  a 
basement  on  Nassau  street.  But  a  square  or  two  below 
is  the  Evening  Post  Building,  where  the  venerable  poet 
Bryant  labored  at  his  editorial  duties  for  so  many  years. 
A  statue  of  Franklin  occupies  a  small  open  triangular 
space  in  the  midst  of  the  square. 

Horace  Greeley's  name  is  inseparably  associated  with 
that  of  the  Tribune,  which  he  founded.  Honest  and 
single-minded,  he  wielded  a  mighty  influence,  and  his 


NEW  YORK.  299 

paper  was  a  great  political  power  in  the  country.  He 
often  made  enemies  by  his  honesty  and  straight-forward- 
ness ;  but  both  enemies  and  friends  respected  him.  In 
1872  the  Liberal  Republican  and  Democratic  parties 
nominated  him  as  their  choice  for  President.  Believing 
that  he  could  rally  around  him  men  of  all  parties  who 
desired  to  see  reform  in  political  methods,  he  accepted 
the  nomination  ;  and  was  attacked  so  bitterly  by  those 
whom  he  had  supposed  to  be  his  friends,  and  met  such 
overwhelming  defeat^in  the  contest,  that,  taken  with  the 
death  of  his  wife  within  a  week  of  the  election, 
he  was  crushed  completely,  his  reason  left  him,  and 
before  the  end  of  a  month  he  died  a  broken-hearted 
man. 

North  of  the  City  Hall  Park,  on  the  corner  of 
Chambers  street,  is  the  old  wholesale  house  of  A.  T. 
Stewart,  now  devoted  to  other  purposes,  and  having  two 
stories  added  to  its  top.  Here,  a  generation  ago,  the 
belles  of  New  York  City  came  to  do  their  shopping,  it 
having  been  originally  built  for  the  retail  trade,  as  a  few 
years  later  they  flocked  to  the  new  retail  store  on  Broad- 
way, between  Ninth  and  Tenth.  The  name  of  A.  T. 
Stewart  is  no  longer  heard  in  New  York,  save  in  con- 
nection with  the  past.  It  was  a  power  in  its  day  and 
generation.  Few  men  had  more  to  do  with  Wall  street 
than  Stewart,  and  his  mercantile  business  was  carried  on 
in  the  Wall  street  style.  He  "  cornered  "  goods,  "  sold 
short,"  "  loaded  the  market,"  and  "  bought  long." 
Having  emigrated  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  he  first 
opened  business  in  a  small  way,  himself  and  wife  living 
in  one  room  over  their  store.  Beginning  at  the  very 
lowest  round  of  the  ladder,  he  worked  with  the  fixed 
resolution  of  becoming  the  first  merchant  in  the  land. 


300      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

He  always  lived  within  his  income,  and  never  bought  a 
dollar's  worth  of  merchandise  that  he  could  not  pay 
cash  for.  In  the  days  of  his  prosperity  he  built  for 
himself  and  wife  a  marble  palace,  at  the  corner  of  Fifth 
avenue  and  Thirty-fourth  street,  the  most  finely-finished 
and  elegantly-furnished  residence  in  the  country.  He 
died  in  1876,  worth,  probably,  $50,000,000.  The  theft 
of  his  remains  from  the  graveyard  of  St.  Mark's  Church, 
at  Ninth  street  and  Second  avenue,  was  the  nine  days' 
wonder  of  the  time ;  and  the  vault  prepared  for  their 
reception,  in  the  fine  Cathedral  at  Garden  City,  Long 
Island,  remains  empty. 

Broadway,  almost  from  the  Battery,  is  bordered  by 
magnificent  structures.  The  lower  end  of  this  thorough- 
fare is  devoted  principally  to  insurance,  bankers'  and 
brokers',  railway  and  other  offices,  and  to  the  whole- 
sale trade.  Above  Canal  street  the'retail  stores  begin 
to  appear  at  intervals,  and  as  one  approaches  Ninth 
street  ladies  multiply  on  the  western  pavement.  From 
Ninth  street  up,  the  retail  trade  monopolizes  the  street, 
and  on  pleasant  afternoons  the  pavement  is  filled  with 
elegantly  dressed  ladies  who  are  out  shopping.  At  Tenth 
street  Broadway  makes  a  bend  to  the  westward,  and  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  way,  facing  obliquely  down  the 
thoroughfare,  is  Grace  Church  and  parsonage,  both 
elegant  structures.  Grace  Church  is  a  fashionable  place 
of  worship,  and  the  scene  of  the  most  exclusive  wed- 
dings and  funerals  of  the  city. 

Union  Square  is  reached  at  Fourteenth  street.  It  is 
oval  in  form,  with  beautiful  green  turf,  trees  and  walks, 
and  contains  a  fine  fountain  in  the  centre,  a  colossal 
bronze  statue  of  Washington  on  a  granite  pedestal,  and 
statues  of  Hamilton  and  Lafayette.  Along  its  northern 


NEW  YORK.  301 

end  is  a  wide  plaza  for  military  parades  and  popular 
assemblies.  Union  Square  was  once  a  fashionable  resi- 
dence quarter,  but  it  is  now  occupied  almost  wholly  by 
business.  At  Twenty-third  street,  Broadway  runs 
diagonally  across  Fifth  avenue,  touching  the  south- 
western corner  of  Madison  Square — not  so  very  long 
since  the  most  genteel  locality  in  New  York,  but  now, 
like  Union  Square,  becoming  oceupied  by  hotels  and 
business  houses. 

Fifth  Avenue,  the  most  splendid  avenue  in  America, 
makes  a  beginning  at  Washington  Square,  a  lovely  public 
park  embowered  in  trees,  which  was  once  Potters'  Field, 
the  pauper  burying  ground,  and  where  one  hundred 
thousand  bodies  lie  buried.  New  York  University  and 
Dr.  Hutton's  Church  face  the  square  on  the  east.  The 
southern  side  is  given  up  to  business,  but  the  north  and 
west  are  still  occupied  by  handsome  private  residences. 
Fifth  Avenue  is  a  continuous  line  of  palatial  hotels, 
gorgeous  club-houses,  brownstone  mansions  and  mag- 
nificent churches.  No  plebeian  horse  cars  are  permitted 
to  disturb  its  well-bred  quiet,  and  the  rumble  of  ele- 
gant equipages  is  alone  heard  upon  its  Belgian  pave- 
ment. 

Business  is  already  invading  the  lower  portion  of  the 
avenue,  piano  warehouses  being  especially  prominent. 
On  Madison  Square  are  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  and 
the  Hoffman  House.  Opposite  the  latter  house  is  a 
monument  erected  to  General  Worth,  a  hero  of  the 
Mexican  war.  Delmonico's  and  the  Cafe"  Brunswick, 
rival  restaurants,  occupy  opposite  corners  of  Twenty- 
sixth  street.  The  Stevens  House  is  an  elegant  family 
hotel  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  Twenty-seventh  street, 
running  to  Broadway.  At  Twenty-ninth  street  is  the 


302      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Congregational  Church,  a  stately  granite  edifice ;  and 
on  the  same  street,  just  east  of  the  Avenue,  is  the  Church 
of  the  Transfiguration,  popularly  known  as  "  the  little 
church  around  the  corner,"  a  name  bestowed  on  it  by  a 
neighboring  clergyman,  who,  refusing  to  bury  an  actor 
from  his  own  church,  referred  the  applicant  to  this.  At 
the  corner  of  Thirty-fourth  street  is  the  Stewart  marble 
palace  already  referred  to.  From  Forty-first  to  Forty- 
second  streets  is  the  distributing  reservoir  of  the  Cro- 
ton  Water-works,  with  walls  of  massive  masonry  in  the 
Egyptian  style.  The  Crystal  Palace  of  1853  occupied 
this  square.  The  Avenue  has  at  this  place  ascended  to 
a  considerable  elevation,  and  the  locality,  embracing 
several  streets  and  avenues,  is  known  as  Murray  Hill, 
the  most  wealthy  and  exclusive  quarter  of  the  city.  At 
Forty-third  street  is  the  Jewish  Temple  Emanuel, 
the  finest  specimen  of  Moorish  architecture  in  the 
country. 

Occupying  the  block  between  Fiftieth  and  Fifty-first 
streets  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  St.  Patrick, 
commenced  in  1858,  and  with  the  towers  still  incom- 
plete. It  is  of  white  marble,  in  decorated  Gothic  style, 
and  the  largest  and  handsomest  church  in  the  country. 
It  is  elaborately  carved,  the  numerous  rose  windows 
seeming  almost  like  lace  work.  When  completed  it 
will  have  two  spires,  ornamented  with  buttresses,  niches 
with  statues,  and  pinnacles,  and  three  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet  in  height.  The  interior  is  as  beauti- 
ful as  a  dream.  It  is  entirely  of  white  marble.  Mass- 
ive pillars  with  elaborately  carved  capitals  support  the 
arched  roof,  while  the  light  is  softened  and  subdued  by 
beautiful  stained-glass  windows.  The  building  is  in 
such  perfect  proportion  that  one  does  not  realize  its 


NEW  YORK.  303 

immense  size  until  he  descries  the  priest  at  the  altar, 
so  far  away  as  to  seem  a  mere  child. 

But  eight  squares  away  is  Central  Park,  the  great 
breathing-place  of  the  city.  Looking  back,  down  the 
Avenue,  from  the  entrance  to  the  Park,  there  is  seen  a 
forest  of  spires  rising  from  magnificent  churches  which 
we  have  had  no  space  to  mention,  and  blocks  upon  blocks 
of  palatial  residences,  the  homes  of  the  millionaires  of 
the  city.  The  eastern  side^of  Fifth  Avenue,  facing  the 
Park  for  a  number  of  blocks,  is  occupied  by  elegant 
private  residences. 

Madison  Avenue  starts  from  Madison  Square,  running 
through  to  Forty-second  street.  It,  with  parallel  ave- 
nues and  places,  shares  the  prestige  of  Fifth  Avenue,  as 
being  the  aristocratic  quarter  of  the  city. 

Fourteenth  street,  once  a  fashionable  thoroughfare,  is 
now  fast  being  occupied  by  large  retail  stores. 

The  avenues,  commencing  at  First,  and  numbering 
as  high  as  Eleventh,  run  north  and  south,  parallel  to 
Fifth  Avenue,  already  described.  They  are  supplemented 
on  the  eastern  side,  at  the  widest  part  of  the  island,  by 
avenues  A,  B,  C,  and  D.  Most  of  these  avenues  com- 
mence on  the  eastern  side  at  Houston  street,  the  north- 
ern boundary  of  the  city  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century.  On  the  western  side,  with  the  exception  of 
Fifth  and  Sixth,  they  commence  but  little  below  Four- 
teenth street.  They  are  mostly  devoted  to  retail  trade, 
and,  on  seeing  their  miles  of  stores,  one  wonders  where, 
even  in  a  great  city  like  New  York,  all  the  people  come 
from  who  support  them. 

Second  Avenue  is  almost  the  only  exception  among 
the  avenues.  Early  in  the  century  it  was  what  Fifth 
Avenue  has  become  to-day,  the  fashionable  residence 


304      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

avenue;  and  even  yet  some  of  the  old  Knickerbocker 
families  cling  to  it,  living  in  their  roomy,  old-fashioned 
houses,  and  maintaining  an  exclusive  society,  while  they 
look  down  with  disdain  upon  the  parvenues  of  Fifth 
avenue.  Stuy  vesant  Square,  intersected  by  Second  ave- 
nue, and  bounded  on  the  east  by  Livingston  Place,  and 
on  the  west  by  Rutherford  Place,  is  one  of  the  quarters 
of  the  ancient  regime.  Here  still  Jive  the  Rutherfords 
and  the  Stuyvesants.  Here  js  the  residence  of  Hamil- 
ton Fish  and  William  M.  Evarts.  St.  George  Church, 
with  the  largest  seating  capacity  of  any  church  in  the 
city,  faces  this  square. 

Booth's  Theatre  is  on  the  corner  of  Sixth  avenue  and 
Twenty-third  street.  It  is  the  most  magnificent  place 
of  amusement  in  America;  built  in  the  Renaissance 
style,  with  a  Mansard  roof.  Opposite  is  the  Masonic 
Temple,  in  Ionic  and  Doric  architecture.  At  the  corner 
of  Eighth  avenue  and  Twenty-third  street  is  the  Grand 
Opera  House,  once  owned  by  James  Fisk,  Jr. 

New  York  is  at  once  spendthrift  and  parsimonious  in 
the  naming  of  her  streets.  Thus,  she  sometimes  repeats 
a  name  more  than  once,  and  again,  bestows  two  or 
three  names  upon  the  same  street.  There  is  a  Broad- 
way, an  East  Broadway,  a  West  Broadway,  and  a 
Broad  street.  There  is  Greenwich  avenue  and  Green- 
wich street.  There  are  two  Pearl  streets.  There  is  a 
Park  avenue,  a  Park  street,  a  Park  row,  and  a  Park 
place.  On  the  other  hand,  Chatham  becomes  East 
Broadway  east  of  Bowery;  Dey  street  is  transformed 
into  John  street  east  of  Broadway  ;  Cortlandt  becomes 
Maiden  Lane  at  the  same  dividing  line;  and  other 
streets  are  in  like  manner  metamorphosed.  Fourth 
Avenue,  beginning  at  the  Battery  as  Pearl  street,  changes 


NEW   YORK.  305 

to  the  Bowery  at  Franklin  Square.  At  Eighth  street, 
without  any  change  in  its  direction,  it  becomes  Fourth 
Avenue ;  from  Thirty-fourth  to  Forty-second  streets  it 
is  Park  Avenue,  and  then  relapses  into  Fourth  Avenue 
again.  This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  avenues  in 
the  city;  as  Pearl  street,  its  windings  and  its  business 
occupations  have  been  referred  to. 

Bowery  has  a  character  all  its  own.  It  takes  its  name 
from  Peter  Stuyvesant's  "Bowerie  Farm,"  through 
which  it  passes.  In  it  is  probably  represented  every 
civilized  nation  on  the  globe.  It  is  unqualifiedly  a 
democratic  street.  \Yhile  Fifth  Avenue  represents  one 
extreme  of  city  life,  the  Bowery  represents  the  other. 
Here  are  the  streets  and  shops  of  the  working  classes, 
consisting  of  dry  and  fancy  goods,  cigar  shops,  lager 
beer  saloons,  shoe  stores,  confectionery  stores,  pawn- 
brokers' shops,  and  ready-made  clothing,  plentifully 
besprinkled  with  variety  and  concert  saloons  and  beer 
gardens.  There  are  no  elegant  store  fronts  or  marble 
stores  here.  The  buildings  are  plain  brick  edifices, 
three  or  four  stories  in  height,  the  upper  stories  occu- 
pied by  the  families  of  the  merchants,  or  as  tenement 
houses.  The  Germans  visit  the  beer  gardens  with  their 
wives  and  families,  to  listen  to  what  is  sometimes  excel- 
lent music,  and  to  drink  beer.  The  concert  saloons  are, 
some  of  them,  the  resorts  of  the  lowest  of  both  sexes. 
Near  Canal  street  is  the  site  of  the  old  Bowery  Theatre, 
which,  having  been  thrice  destroyed  by  fire,  has  been 
thrice  rebuilt,  the  last  time,  quite  recently,  and  is  now 
known  as  Thalia  Theatre.  A  generation  and  a  half  ago 
the  gamins  of  New  York  reigned  supreme  in  the  pit. 
Now  that  they  have  been  relegated  to  the  gallery,  they 

still  criticise  the  performance  with  the  frankness  and 

xo 


306      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

originality  of  expression  characteristic  of  the  "  Bowery 
boys  "  of  old.  One  should  visit  the  Bowery  at  night, 
when  the  workmen  and  shop  girls,  having  finished 
their  daily  labor,  are  out  for  recreation  and  amusement. 
Then  he  will  gain  an  idea  of  one  phase  of  city  life  and 
people  which  he  would  not  obtain  otherwise. 

At  Seventh  street,  where  Third  avenue  branches  off, 
looking  down  the  Bowery,  and  occupying  the  entire 
block  to  Eighth  street,  is  Cooper  Institute,  containing 
a  free  library,  free  reading-room,  free  schools  of  art, 
telegraphy  and  science,  and  a  hall  and  lecture  room. 
Peter  Cooper  was  one  of  the  representative  men  of  New 
York.  Acquiring  a  large  fortune  by  strictly  honorable 
methods,  he  devoted  a  generous  portion  of  it  to  charit- 
able objects,  and  Cooper  Union  is  one  of  the  lasting 
monuments  of  his  generosity.  He  was  a  true  philan- 
thropist, a  man  of  broad  thought  and  kindly  impulses, 
whose  name  was  honored  by  all  classes  of  the  commu- 
nity. He  died  in  April,  1883,  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

Occupying  the  block  between  Third  Avenue  and  the 
Bowery,  which  is  now  dignified  by  the  name  of  Fourth 
avenue,  is  the  Bible  House,  the  largest  structure  of  its 
kind  in  the  world,  except  that  of  London.  Here  the 
Bible  is  printed  in  almost  every  known  language,  and 
here  are  congregated  the  offices  of  the  various  religious 
societies  of  the  city  and  country.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  Academy  of  Design  occupy 
opposite  corners  at  Twenty-third  street,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  avenue.  The  exterior  of  the  latter  is  copied  from 
a  famous  palace  in  Venice,  and  it  is  peculiar  as  well  as 
beautiful  in  its  appearance.  From  Thirty-second  to 
Thirty-third  streets  is  the  immense  structure  intended 
by  A.  T.  Stewart  as  the  crowning  charitable  object  of 


NEW  YORK.  307 

his  life,  to  be,  perhaps,  in  some  sort,  an  atonement  for 
injustice  of  which  h.e  may  have  been  guilty  toward  the 
working  classes.  It  was  designed  as  a  hotel  for  work- 
ing women,  but  in  its  very  plan  indicated  how  little  its 
founder  understood  the  nature  or  needs  of  that  class. 
At  its  completion,  after  his  death,  it  did  not  take  many 
weeks  to  demonstrate  that  working  women  preferred  a 
place  more  home-like,  and  fettered  by  less  restrictions 
than  this  palace-prison ;  and  so  the  edifice  was  turned 
into  an  ordinary  hotel. 

Park  avenue  commences  at  Thirty-fourth  street,  being 
built  over  the  track  of  the  Fourth  avenue  car  line. 
In  the  centre  of  this  avenue,  over  the  tunnels,  are  little 
spaces  inclosed  by  iron  fences,  and  containing  a  profu- 
sion of  shrubbery  and  flowers.  The  avenue  abounds  in 
elegant  churches  and  equally  fine  residences.  At  Forty- 
second  street  is  the  Grand  Central  Depot,  seven  hun- 
dred feet  in  length,  its  exterior  imposing,  and  with 
corner  and  central  towers  surmounted  by  domes.  At 
Sixty-ninth  street,  between  Fourth  and  Lexington 
avenues,  is  the  new  Normal  College,  an  ecclesiastical- 
looking  building,  the  most  complete  of  its  kind  in 
America. 

Retracing  our  steps  to  near  the  foot  of  Bowery,  we 
come  to  Chatham  street,  where  the  Jews  reign  supreme, 
and  which  is  the  vestibule  of  the  worst  quarter  of  the 
city.  Passing  along  a  pavement  festooned  with  cheap, 
ready-made  clothing,  one  comes  to  Baxter  street,  and 
from  thence  to  the  Five  Points,  once  the  most  in- 
famous locality  of  New  York.  Here,  a  generation 
ago,  a  respectable  man  took  his  life  in  his  hands,  who 
attempted  to  pass  through  this  quarter,  even  in  broad 
daylight.  It  was  the  abode  of  thieves,  burglars,  garot- 


308      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ters,  murderers  and  prostitutes.  Hundreds  of  families 
were  huddled  together  in  tumble-down  tenement  houses, 
living  in  such  filth  and  with  such  an  utter  lack  of  de- 
cency as  is  scarcely  to  be  credited.  But  home  mission- 
aries visited  the  quarter,  established  mission-schools  and 
a  house  of  industry,  tore  down  the  disgraceful  tenement- 
houses  and  built  better  ones  in  their  place ;  and  to-day 
the  old  Bowery,  Cow  Bay  and  Murderers'  Alley  are 
known  only  in  name.  The  Five  Points  is  at  the  cross- 
ing of  Baxter,  Worth  and  Parker  streets,  and  is  really 
five  points  no  longer,  the  carrying  through  of  Worth 
street  to  the  Bowery,  forming  an  additional  point.  The 
locality  is  still  dreadful  enough,  with  all  its  improve- 
ments. Drunken  men,  depraved  women,  and  swarms  of 
half-clad  children  fill  the  neighborhood,  and  even  the 
"  improved  tenement  houses,"  as  viewed  from  the  out- 
side, seem  but  sorry  abodes  for  human  beings.  This  is 
the  heart  of  a  wretched  quarter,  which  extends  westward 
to  Broadway,  and  almost  indefinitely  in  other  directions. 
Mott,  Mulberry,  Baxter,  Centre,  Elm  and  Crosby 
streets  are  all  densely  populated,  containing  numberless 
tenement  houses.  It  is  possible  to  walk  through  some 
of  these  streets  and  never  hear  a  word  of  English. 
Mulberry  and  Crosby  streets  are  especially  the  homes  of 
Italians,  who  on  Sunday  mornings  pour  out  of  the 
tenements  upon  the  pavement  and  street  below  in  such 
throngs  that  a  stranger  can  scarcely  elbow  his  way 
through.  The  Chinese  have  taken  possession  of  the 
lower  part  of  Mott  street,  and  established  laundries, 
groceries,  tea-houses,  lodging-houses,  and  opium-smok- 
ing dens.  The  latter  are  already  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  the  public,  and  a  feeble  effort  has  been  made  by 
the  city  government  to  put  a  check  upon  their  evil  in- 


NEW  TORS:.  309 

fluence.  These  streets  are  a  festering  sore  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  city,  and  require  attention. 

The  Tombs,  the  city  prison,  famous  in  the  criminal 
history  of  New  York,  is  located  in  the  midst  of  this 
quarter,  on  Centre  street,  occupying  an  entire  block. 
It  is  a  gloomy  building,  constructed  of  granite,  in  imi- 
tation of  an  Egyptian  temple.  Within  these  forbidding 
walls  is  the  Tombs  Police  Court,  where,  early  each  morn- 
ing, petty  cases  are  disposed  of  by  the  magistrate  upon  the 
bench ;  and  here  prisoners  are  kept  awaiting  trial. 
Eleven  cells  of  special  strength  and  security  are  for 
murderers  awaiting  trial  or  punishment.  There  is  also 
a  special  department  for  women.  In  the  inner  quad- 
rangle of  the  building  murderers  are  made  to  suffer  the 
utmost  penalty  of  the  law,  and  the  last  act  of  many  a 
tragedy  which  has  excited  and  horrified  the  public  has 
been  performed  here. 

It  will  be  a  relief  to  turn  from  the  gloom  and  wretch- 
edness of  the  Tombs  to  the  sunshine  and  freedom  of 
New  York's  great  breathing  place.  Central  Park  con- 
tains eight  hundred  and  forty-three  acres,  and  embraces 
an  area  extending  from  Fifth  to  Eighth  avenues,  and 
from  Fifty-ninth  to  One-hundred-and-tenth  streets. 
Originally,  it  was  a  desolate  stretch  of  country  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city,  varied  by  rocks  and  marshes,  and 
dotted  by  the  hovels  of  Irish  and  Dutch  squatters,  its 
most  picturesque  features  being  their  goats,  which  picked 
up  a  scant  living  among  the  rubbish  with  which  it  was 
covered.  Its  whole  extent  is  now  covered  with  a  heavy 
sod  and  planted  to  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  furnishes 
many  miles  of  drives  and  walks.  Every  day  in  the 
year  it  has  numerous  visitors,  but  on  Sunday,  one  must 
fairly  elbow  one's  way  through  the  crowds.  In  the 


310      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

southeast  corner  are  the  Zoological  Gardens  and  the 
old  State  Arsenal;  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
recently  opened,  is  north  of  Belvidere,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Park.  The  Egyptian  Obelisk  stands  on  an  emi- 
nence west  of  the  museum.  Winding  paths  conduct 
the  visitor  to  the  Mall,  a  stately  avenue  shaded  by 
double  rows  of  elms,  and  ornamented  at  intervals  with 
bronze  statues  of  celebrated  American  and  European 
statesmen  and  poets;  also  a  number  of  groups  which 
are  especially  fine.  The  Terrace  is  at  the  northern  ter- 
minus of  the  Mall,  and  leads  by  a  flight  of  broad,  stone 
stairs  to  Central  Lake,  the  prettiest  body  of  water  in 
the  Park,  dotted  by  gondolas.  A  fountain,  with  im- 
mense granite  basins,  and  a  colossal  statue  of  the  Angel 
of  Bethesda,  stands  between  the  terrace  and  the  lake. 
Beyond  the  lake  is  the  Ramble,  consisting  of  winding, 
shaded  paths,  and  covering  thirty-six  acres  of  sloping 
hills.  From  the  tower  at  Belvidere,  a  magnificent  piece 
of  architecture,  in  the  Norman  style,  may  be  obtained  a 
fine  bird's-eye  view  of  the  Park.  Just  above  Belvidere 
are  the  two  reservoirs  of  the  water  works,  extending  as 
far  north  as  Ninety-sixth  street.  Beyond  that  the  Park 
is  less  embellished  by  art,  and  is  richer  in  natural  beau- 
ties. From  the  eminence  upon  which  stands  the  old 
Block  House,  on  the  northern  border  of  the  Park,  a 
magnificent  and  extensive  view  may  be  obtained  to  the 
hills  which  bound  in  the  landscape,  and  including  High 
Bridge. 

One  should  visit  the  water  front  of  New  York,  which 
circles  the  city  on  three  sides,  to  gain  an  idea  of  its  im- 
mense commerce.  A  river  wall  of  solid  masonry  has 
been  commenced,  which,  when  completed,  will  make 
the  American  metropolis  equal  to  London  aad  Liver- 


NEW  YORK.  311 

pool  in  tin's  respect.  A  perfect  forest  of  masts  Hues  the 
wharves,  representing  every  kind  of  craft,  and  almost 
every  nation  that  sails  the  seas.  Twice  a  week  Euro- 
pean steamships  leave  from  the  foot  of  Canal  street; 
while  from  various  points  along  the  wharves,  indicated 
by  handsome  ferry  or  shipping  houses,  boats  go  and 
come,  to  and  from  every  port  on  the  river  or  on  the 
Atlantic  coast.  At  Desbrosses  and  Cortlandt  streets 
ferries  connect  with  Jersey  City.  South,  Wall  and 
Fulton  ferries  give  access  to  Brooklyn;  while  other 
ferries  convey  passengers  to  other  points  on  the  rivers 
and  bay. 

Passing  up  the  East  River,  with  the  ship-thronged 
wharves  and  docks  of  New  York  on  one  hand,  and  the 
Brooklyn  Navy  Yard  on  the  other,  the  visitor  soon 
obtains  a  view  of  Blackwell's,  Ward*s  and  Randall's 
islands.  Blackwell's  Island  is  at  the  foot  of  Forty-sixth 
street,  and  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  extent. 
Upon  it  are  located  the  Almshouse,  Female  Lunatic 
Asylum,  Penitentiary,  Work  House,  Blind  Asylum, 
Charity,  Smallpox  and  Typhus  Fever  hospitals. 
These  buildings  are  all  constructed  of  granite,  quarried 
from  the  island  by  convicts.  They  are  plain  but  sub- 
stantial in  appearance. 

Leaving  Blackwell's  Island,  the  boat  passes  cautiously 
through  the  swirling  waters  of  Hell  Gate,  once  the  terror 
of  all  sailors,  but  now  robbed  of  most  of  its  horrors.  It 
was  originally  a  collection  of  rocks  in  mid  channel, 
which,  as  the  tides  swept  in  and  out,  caused  the  waters 
to  rush  in  a  succession  of  whirlpools  and  rapids.  But  a 
few  years  ago  United  States  engineers  undertook  and 
accomplished  a  gigantic  excavation,  directly  under  these 
threatening  rocks  and  reefs.  When  it  was  completed  a 


312       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

grand  explosion,  effected  by  means  of  connecting  wires, 
blew  up  these  dangerous  obstructions,  and  left  a  compara- 
tively clear  and  safe  channel  for  vessels.  The  few  remain- 
ing rocks  which  this  explosion  failed  to  disturb  are  being 
removed,  and  with  its  dangers,  much  of  the  romantic 
interest  which  attached  to  Hell  Gate  will  pass  away. 

Ward's  Island,  embracing  two  hundred  acres,  and 
containing  the  Male  Lunatic  Asylum,  the  Emigrant 
Hospital,  and  the  Inebriate  Asylum,  divides  the  Harlem 
from  the  East  River.  Randall's  Island  is  separated 
from  Ward's  Island  by  a  narrow  channel,  and  is  the  last 
of  the  group.  It  contains  the  Idiot  Asylum,  the  House 
of  Refuge,  the  Infant  Hospital,  Nurseries,  and  other 
charities  provided  by  the  city  for  destitute  children. 

The  visitor  in  New  York  should,  if  possible,  make 
an  excursion  to  High  Bridge,  a  magnificent  structure  by 
which  the  Croton  Aqueduct  is  carried  across  Harlem 
River.  It  is  built  of  granite,  and  spans  the  entire  width 
of  valley  and  river,  from  cliff  to  cliff.  It  is  composed 
of  eight  arches,  each  with  a  span  of  eighty  feet,  and  with 
an  elevation  of  a  hundred  feet  clear  from  the  surface  of 
the  river.  The  water  is  led  over  the  bridge,  a  distance 
of  fourteen  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  in  immense  iron  pipes, 
six  feet  in  diameter.  Above  these  pipes  is  a  pathway 
for  pedestrians.  At  One-hundred-and-sixty -ninth  street, 
a  little  below  the  High  Bridge,  is  the  site  of  the 
elegant  mansion  of  Colonel  Roger  Morris,  and  the 
head-quarters  of  General  Washington  during  active 
operations  in  this  portion  of  the  island.  The  situation 
is  one  of  picturesque  and  historic  interest. 

Rising  grandly  above  all  the  shipping  of  the  East 
River,  on  its  either  side,  are  the  massive  towers  of  the 
Suspension  Bridge,  connecting  the  sister  cities  of  New 


NEW  YORK.  313 

York  and  Brooklyn.  Ponderous  cables  swing  in  a  single 
grand  sweep  from  tower  to  tower,  supporting  the  bridge 
in  its  place.  It  does  not  seem  very  much  elevated  above 
the  river,  and  you  feel  that  a  certain  majestic  sailing 
vessel  which  is  bearing  down  upon  it  will  bring  the  top 
of  her  masts  in  contact  with  it.  But  she  sails  proudly 
beneath  the  structure,  never  bowing  her  head,  and  there 
is  plenty  of  room  and  to  spare ;  for  the  bridge  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  feet  above  high  water  mark.  The 
distance  from  tower  to  tower  is  one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-five  feet,  while  the  entire  length  of 
the  bridge,  from  Park  Place  to  its  terminus,  on  the 
heights  in  Brooklyn,  is  six  thousand  feet,  or  a  little  more 
than  a  mile.  Its  width  is  eighty-five  feet,  affording 
space  for  two  railways,  besides  two  double  carriage-ways, 
and  one  foot-path.  It  was  commenced  in  1871,  and 
cost  $15,000,000.  Its  formal  opening  took  place  on 
May  twenty-fourth,  1883.  The  day  was  a  rarely  beau- 
tiful one,  and  was  observed  as  a  general  holiday  by  the 
people  of  both  cities.  President  Arthur  and  his  Cabinet, 
the  governors  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Rhode 
Island,  with  many  other  distinguished  persons,  were 
among  the  guests,  while  the  honors  of  the  occasion  were 
done  by  the  Mayors  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  Every 
street  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  bridge  was  packed  with 
a  dense  throng  of  spectators,  while  windows,  balconies 
and  roofs  were  filled  with  curious  sight  seers. 

Shortly  after  noon  the  procession  moved  down  Broad- 
way, and  a  little  after  one  o'clock  the  President  and  other 
distinguished  guests  entered  the  gateway  of  the  bridge, 
preceded  by  the  Seventh  Regiment,  the  procession 
headed  by  a  company  of  mounted  policemen,  while 
Cappa's  baud  played  "  Hail  to  the  Chief."  When  the 


314      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

party  reached  the  New  York  tower,  they  were  met  by 
President  Kingsley  of  the  bridge  trustees,  and  there  were 
introductions  and  welcomes,  and  the  march  was  resumed. 
At  the  Brooklyn  tower  Mayor  Low  met  the  President, 
and  the  Seventy-third  Regiment  presented  arms.  In 
announcement  of  the  fact  that  the  bridge  was  crossed, 
cannons  thundered  forth  salutes,  the  steam  whistles  of 
vessels  and  factories  screamed,  bells  rang,  and  deafening 
cheers  went  up  from  the  watching  multitude.  The  fur- 
ther ceremonies  of  the  day  took  place  in  a  pavilion  on 
the  Brooklyn  end,  when  Mr.  William  E.  Kingsley, 
the  President  of  the  Bridge  Association,  Mayor  Low, 
of  Brooklyn,  Mayor  Edson  of  New  York,  Hon. 
Abram  S.  Hewitt  and  Rev.  B.  S.  Storrs,  made  able 
addresses.  A  reception  was  tendered  in  the  evening,  at 
the  Academy  of  Music,  by  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  to  the 
President  and  the  Governor  of  the  State,  previous  to 
which  there  was  a  fine  display  of  fireworks  from  the 
bridge. 

During  all  the  excitement  of  the  day,  while  cannon 
thundered  and  the  multitude  cheered,  an  invalid  sat 
alone  in  his  house  on  Columbia  Heights,  and  regarded 
from  afar  the  completion  of  his  toil  of  years.  John  A. 
Roebling,  the  elder  of  the  two  Roeblings,  first  conceived 
and  planned  the  bridge  which  connects  New  York  and 
Brooklyn.  He  had  built  the  chief  suspension  bridges 
in  the  country,  and  to  him  was  intrusted  the  task  of 
putting  his  own  plans  into  tangible  form.  While  testing 
and  perfecting  his  surveys,  his  foot  was  crushed  between 
the  planking  of  a  pier;  lockjaw  supervened,  and  the 
man  who  had  designed  the  bridge  lost  his  life  in  its 
service.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Colonel  Wash- 
ington A.  Roebling,  who  was  equally  qualified  for  the 


NEW  YORK.  315 

undertaking.  He  labored  with  zeal,  giving  personal 
superintendence  to  his  workmen,  until  in  the  caissons 
he  contracted  a  mysterious  disease,  which  had  proved 
fatal  to  several  men  in  his  employ.  From  that  period 
he  was  confined  to  his  home,  a  hopeless  invalid,  his 
intellect  apparently  quickened  as  his  physical  system 
was  enfeebled.  He  has  never  seen  the  structure,  save 
as  it  stands  from  a  distance;  but  from  his  sick-room 
he  has  directed  and  watched  over  the  progress  of 
the  enterprise,  his  active  assistant  being  his  wife,  of 
whom  Mayor  Edson,  in  his  address  on  the  occasion, 
spoke  in  the  following  terms:  "  With  this  bridge  will 
ever  be  coupled  the  thought  of  one,  through  the  subtle 
alembic  of  whose  brain,  and  by  whose  facile  fingers, 
communication  was  maintained  between  the  directing 
power  of  its  construction  and  the  obedient  agencies  of 
its  execution.  It  is  thus  an  everlasting  monument  to 
the  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  woman."  After  the  con- 
clusion of  the  address,  the  President  and  his  Cabinet, 
the  Governor,  and  hundreds  of  others,  paid  their  respects 
to  Colonel  Roebling,  and  did  honor  to  the  man  the  com- 
pletion of  whose  work  they  were  celebrating.  After  it 
was  over  Roebling  replied,  to  the  suggestion  that  he 
must  be  happy,  "  I  am  satisfied." 

The  great  bridge  was  opened  to  the  public  at  mid- 
night, and  the  waiting  throng,  which  even  at  that  hour 
numbered  about  twenty  thousand  persons,  were  permitted 
to  enter  the  gates  and  cross  the  structure.  A  represent- 
ative of  the  New  York  Herald  was  the  first  to  pay  the 
toll  of  one  cent  demanded,  and  -  the  first  to  begin  the 
passage  across.  With  the  completion  of  this  bridge  the 
continent  is  entirely  spanned,  and  one  may  visit,  dry 


316      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

shod  and  without  the  use  of  ferry  boats,  every  city  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Golden  Gate. 

But  the  great  bridge  was  not  to  be  consecrated  to  the 
use  of  the  public  without  a  baptism  of  blood.    On  Deco- 
ration Day,  which  occurred  the  seventh  day  after  the 
opening  of  the  bridge,  there  was  a  grand  military  parade 
in  New  York,  reviewed  by  President  Arthur  from  a 
stand  in  Madison  Square,  and  impressive  ceremonies  at 
the  various  cemeteries  in  Brooklyn.     From  early  morn- 
ing a  steady  stream   of  pedestrains  poured  each  way, 
across  the  bridge.     About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
there  came  a  lock  in  the  crowd,  just  at  the  top  of  the 
stairs  on  the  New  York  side,  leading  down  to  the  con- 
crete roadway     Men,  women  and  children  were  wedged 
together  in  a  jam,  created  by  the  fearful  pressure  of  two 
opposing  crowds,  extending  to  either  end  of  the  bridge. 
Some  one  stumbled  and  fell  on  the  stairs.     The  terrible 
pressure  prevented  him  or  her  from  rising,  and  others 
fell  over  the  obstacle  thus  placed  in  the  pathway.  Those 
immediately   behind   were   hopelessly    forced   on   over 
them.     A  panic  ensued.     Women  screamed  and  wrung 
their   hands;    children   cried    and  called  pitifully   for 
"help!"     Men  shouted  themselves  hoarse,  swore  and 
fought.     A  hundred  hats  and  bonnets  were  afterwards 
found  upon  the  spot,  trampled  into  shapelessness.  Clothes 
were  torn  off,  and  many  emerged  from  the  crush  in  only 
their  undergarments.     Parents  held  their  children  aloft 
to  keep  them  from  being  trampled  upon.    Hundreds  of 
men  climbed  with  difficulty  on  the  beams  running  over 
the  railroads,  and  dropping  down  were  caught  by  those 
in  the  carriage-way  beneath.     A  number  of  women  also 
escaped  in  that  manner. 


NEW  YORK.  317 

At  last,  after  almost  superhuman  efforts,  the  crowd 
was  pressed  back  sufficiently  to  gather  up  the  prostrate 
bodies,  which  were  taken  to  the  roadway  below,  and 
ranged  along  the  wall,  waiting  for  ambulances  to  convey 
them  away.  Twelve  persons  were  found  dead,  some  of 
them  bruised,  discolored,  and  covered  with  blood,  and 
others  apparently  suffocated  to  death.  The  list  of  injured 
was  very  much  larger — how  much  will  probably  never 
be  known,  since  many,  assisted  by  their  friends,  returned 
to  their  homes  without  reporting  their  hurts.  The  dead 
and  wounded  were  most  of  them  conveyed  to  the  City 
Hall  Police  Station,  and  were  there  claimed  by  their 
friends ;  and  the  day  which  had  begun  so  joyously 
ended  in  gloom. 

New  York  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  products  of 
our  wonderful  western  civilization.  It  is  itself  a  world 
in  epitome.  Thoroughly  cosmopolitan  in  its  character, 
almost  every  nationality  is  represented  within  its  bound- 
aries, and  almost  every  tongue  spoken.  It  is  the  great 
monetary,  scientific,  artistic  and  intellectual  centre  of  the 
western  world.  Containing  much  that  is  evil,  it  also 
abounds  with  more  that  is  good.  It  is  well  governed. 
Its  sanitary  arrangements  are  such  as  to  make  it  pecu- 
liarly free  from  epidemic  diseases.  The  record  of  its 
crimes  is  undoubtedly  a  long  one ;  but  when  the  num- 
ber of  its  inhabitants  is  considered,  it  will  be  found  to 
show  an  average  comparing  favorably  with  other  cities. 
Thousands  of  happy  homes  are  found  throughout  its 
length  and  breadth.  Hundreds  of  good  and  charitable 
enterprises  are  originated  and  fostered  within  its  limits, 
and  grow,  some  of  them,  to  gigantic  proportions,  reach- 
ing out  strong  arms  to  the  uttermost  confines  of  the 
country  and  even  of  the  world,  comforting  the  afflicted, 


318      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

lifting  up  the  degraded,  and  shedding  the  light  of  truth 
in  dark  places.  It  is  already  a  great  city,  a  wonderful 
city.  But  what  it  is  to-day  is  only  the  beginning  of 
what  those  who  live  fifty  years  hence  will  behold  it. 
There  is  still  space  upon  Manhattan  Island  for  twice  or 
thrice  its  present  population  and  business ;  and  the  no 
distant  future  will  undoubtedly  see  this  space  fully 
occupied,  while  it  is  among  the  possibilities  that  New 
York  will  become,  in  point  of  inhabitants  and  commer- 
cial interests,  the  ftrs^  city  in  the  world. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

OMAHA. 

Arrival  in  Omaha. — The  Missouri  River. — Position  and  Appear- 
ance of  the  City. — Public  Buildings. — History. — Land  Specula- 
tion.— Panic  of  1857. — Discovery  of  Gold  in  Colorado. — "  Pike's 
Peak  or  Bust." — Sudden  Revival  of  Business. — First  Railroad. 
—  Union  Pacific  Railroad. — Population.  —  Commercial  and 
Manufacturing  Interests. — Bridge  over  the  Missouri. — Union 
Pacific  Depot. — Prospects  for  the  Future. 

ON  the  afternoon  of  October  twenty-first,  1876,  I 
sat  in  the  saddle  upon  the  eastern  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River,  opposite  Omaha,  Nebraska,  having  that 
day  accomplished  a  horseback  journey  of  twenty-two 
miles,  on  my  way  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 
Paul  Revere,  the  faithful  horse  who  had  borne  me  all 
the  way  from  Boston,  declined  entering  the  ferry  boat, 
it  being  his  firm  conviction  that  rivers  should  either  be 
crossed  by  bridges  or  forded.  At  last,  being  gently  co- 
erced, the  horse  reluctantly  consented,  and  the  muddy 
current  of  the  river  was  soon  crossed.  At  three  o'clock 
I  entered  the  city  of  Omaha,  the  half-way  house  across 
the  continent,  it  having  been  a  little  more  than  five 
months  since  I  dashed  out  of  the  surf,  my  horse's 
hoofs  wet  and  dripping  with  the  brine  of  the  Atlantic. 

Omaha  lies  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  Nebraska, 
opposite  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  western  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River,  a  turbulent  stream,  which  is  never  satis- 
fied with  its  position,  but  is  constantly  shifting  and 
changing,  and  making  for  itself  new  channels.  A  bottom 
land  about  three  miles  wide  stretches  out  between  Oinaha 

319 


320      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  Council  Bluffs,  and  through  this  the  Missouri  rolls, 
a  swift,  muddy  stream,  slowly  but  surely  carrying  the 
Rocky  Mountains  down  to  the  Mississippi,  which,  in  its 
turn,  deposits  them  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  helps 
to  extend  our  Gulf  coast.  The  Missouri  vibrates  like 
a  pendulum,  from  one  side  of  this  bottom  land  to  the 
other ;  now  being  near  one  city,  and  then  near  the  other. 
At  the  period  of  my  visit  its  current  washed  the  front 
of  Omaha,  leaving  Council  Bluffs  some  distance  off  on 
the  opposite  side ;  but  it  was  already  beginning  its  back- 
ward swing.  Thus  the  boundary  line  between  Nebraska 
and  Iowa  is  being  continually  shifted,  and  one  State  is 
augmented  in  territory  at  the  expense  of  the  other. 

Omaha  is  built  in  part  upon  the  low  bottom  lands 
which  border  the  river,  and  which  may  at  any  time  be 
menaced  by  the  swollen  and  angry  stream,  unless  pre- 
cautions are  taken,  in  the  building  of  high  and  substan- 
tial stone  levees  along  the  river  front.  The  town  lies 
also  in  part  upon  the  table  lands  beyond,  and  is 
extending  to  the  bluffs  which  rise  still  further  away. 
Its  business  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  lower  portion, 
where  magnificent  blocks  attest  the  prosperity  of  the 
city.  Streets  of  substantial  dwellings,  and  numerous 
most  elegant  private  residences,  with  large  and  hand- 
somely ornamented  grounds,  are  discovered  as  one  passes 
through  the  city.  A  striking  edifice,  of  Cincinnati  free- 
stone, four  stories  high,  is  occupied  as  a  Post  Office  and 
Court  House.  Its  High  School  building  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  country.  When  the  State  Government  was, 
in  1866,  removed  from  Omaha  to  Lincoln,  the  Legis- 
lature donated  the  Square  and  Capitol  Building  at  the 
former  place  for  High  School  purposes.  The  old  Capi- 
tol was  demolished,  and  a  magnificent  school  building 


OMAHA.  321 

erected  on  its  site,  at  a  cost  of  $250,000,  while  other 
fine  school  edifices,  aggregating  in  cost  about  $150,000 
more,  were  erected  in  other  sections  of  the  city.  The 
High  School  building  is  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  over- 
looking a  large  extent  of  country,  and  has  a  spire  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five  feet  high.  The  Depot  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  is  also  a  noteworthy  edince. 

Omaha  was  first  laid  out  in  1853,  and  thus  named, 
after  a  now  nearly  extinct  tribe  of  Indians.  The  first  house 
was  built,  and  the  first  ferry  established  in  that  year ; 
and  a  year  later  the  first  brick-kiln  was  burned,  and  the 
first  newspaper — the  Omaha  Arrow — established.  Where 
Turner  Hall  now  stands,  in  1854  was  dug  the  first 
grave,  for  an  old  squaw  of  the  Omaha  tribe  who  had 
been  left  by  her  kindred  to  die.  Whittier's  description 
of  the  growth  of  western  cities  seems  particularly  appli- 
cable to  Omaha : — 

"  Behind  the  squaw's  light  birch  canoe 

The  steamer  smokes  and  raves, 
And  city  lots  are  staked  for  sale 
Above  old  Indian  graves." 

The  first  Legislature  of  Nebraska  convened  in  Omaha 
in  the  winter  of  1854-5 ;  and  in  1856  the  Capital  was 
definitely  located  in  that  city,  and  the  erection  of  the 
capitol  building  commenced.  For  a  year  or  two  there 
was  a  great  land-boom,  and  city  property  and  "  corner 
lots"  were  held  at  fabulous  prices.  But  in  1857  a  crash 
came,  and  for  a  time  the  infant  town  was  prostrated. 
However,  in  1859  the  discovery  of  gold  in  Colorado  gave 
it  a  fresh  impetus.  The  miners  who  marched  in  a  per- 
petual caravan  across  the  plains,  in  white-topped  wag- 
ons, marked  "  Pike's  Peak  or  bust,"  made  Omaha  their 
final  starting-point,  taking  in  at  that  place  supplies  foi 


322      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

their  long  journey.  Two  years  previous  all  who  could 
get  away  from  the  apparently  doomed  town  had  gone  to 
other  sections,  to  begin  anew  the  fight  for  fortune.  Only 
those  remained  who  were  too  poor  to  go,  but  these  were 
now  in  luck.  Fortune  came  to  them,  instead  of  their 
being  compelled  to  undertake  an  ignis  fatuus  chase  after 
her.  At  that  time  the  business  men  of  the  city  laid  the 
foundations  of  their  wealth  and  prosperity. 

In  1857  the  town  was  incorporated  as  a  city ;  but 
up  to  1867  its  only  means  of  communication  with  the 
east  was  by  stage-coach,  across  Iowa,  and  by  steamers 
on  the  Missouri,  which  latter  ceased  running  in  winter. 
In  1865  the  population  of  the  town  was  but  four  thou- 
sand five  hundred  persons.  In  1867  the  first  train  of 
cars  arrived  in  the  city,  on  the  Chicago  and  Northwest- 
ern Railroad.  It  was  not  long  before  other  railroads, 
one  after  another,  made  it  their  western  terminus,  and 
its  prosperity  was  established.  Then  came  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  which  started  on  its  long  journey  across 
the  plains  and  mountains  from  this  point.  The  trade 
to  the  Pacific  coast  thus  necessarily  passed  through 
Omaha,  which  became  a  gateway  on  the  route,  while 
many  travelers  and  emigrants  paused  to  breathe  and 
rest  before  proceeding  further,  and  to  take  in  large 
quantities  of  supplies.  In  1875  its  population  had  in- 
creased to  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  in  1880 
had  run  up  to  thirty  thousand. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  building  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  has  diminished  rather  than  increased 
the  local  trade  of  the  city.  In  overland  times  single 
houses  sometimes  traded  as  much  as  three  million  dollars' 
worth  in  a  year  ;  but  the  railroad  has  so  dispersed  and 
distributed  business,  that  now  none  reach  even  half  that 


OMAHA.  323 

amount.  The  city,  however,  does  an  immense  manu- 
facturing business.  Within  its  limits  is  located  the 
largest  smelting  works  in  America,  employing  nearly 
two  hundred  men,  and  doing  an  annual  business  of 
probably  not  less  than  five  millions  of  dollars.  One 
distillery  alone,  in  1875,  the  year  previous  to  my  visit, 
paid  the  government  a  tax  of  $316,000 ;  while  there 
are  extensive  breweries,  linseed-oil  works,  steam-engine 
works,  and  pork-packing  establishments.  The  engine 
shops,  car-works  and  foundry  of  the  Union  Pacific  Road 
occupy,  with  the  round-house,  about  thirty  acres  of  land, 
on  the  bottom  adjoining  the  table  land  upon  which  the 
city  is  built.  Over  one  million  dollars  is  paid  out 
annually  in  these  establish ments,  for  manual  labor  alone, 
without  including  payments  for  merchandise  and  sup- 
plies. A  notable  industry  is  the  manufacture  of  brick, 
over  five  millions  being  turned  out  annually  from  the 
four  brick-yards  of  Omaha.  The  city  is  also  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Army  of  the  Platte,  which  annually 
distributes  nearly  a  million  of  dollars. 

The  first  postmaster  of  Omaha  used  his  hat  for  a 
post  office,  and  carried  around  the  mail  matter  in  that 
receptacle  wherever  he  went,  delivering  it  by  chance  to 
its  owners.  Twenty  years  later  the  city  possessed  the 
finest  government  building  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
while  the  post  office  receipts  are  to-day  upwards  of  a 
million  dollars  annually.  Hides,  buffalo  robes,  and 
furs,  to  the  value  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  are  annually  collected  and  shipped  from  Omaha ; 
while  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  is  the 
extent  in  a  single  year  of  the  sewing  machine  business. 
The  Pacific  Railroad  ships  from  Omaha  vast  quantities 
of  grain  to  the  Salt  Lake  Valley,  and  brings  back  in 


324      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

return  supplies  of  Utah  fruit,  fresh  and  dried.  The  first 
shipment  of  fruit,  made  in  1871,  amounted  to  three 
hundred  pounds.  In  four  years  the  quantity  had  in- 
creased to  nine  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  is  still 
greater  to-day.  The  Grand  Central  Hotel  was  the  finest 
hotel  between  Chicago  and  San  Francisco,  having  been 
erected  in  1873,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars ;  but  it  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1878. 

The  visitor  to  Omaha  will  probably  reach  that  city 
by  means  of  the  great  bridge  across  the  Missouri  River. 
This  bridge  is  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  with  eleven  spans,  each  span  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  width,  and  elevated  fifty  feet  above  high 
water  mark.  One  stone  masonry  abutment,  and  eleven 
piers,  each  with  two  cast  iron  columns,  support  this 
bridge.  Its  construction  was  commenced  in  February, 
1869,  and  completed  in  1872,  during  most  of  which  time 
not  less  than  five  hundred  men  were  employed  upon  it. 
Each  column  was  sunk  in  the  bed  of  the  river  until  a 
solid  foundation  was  reached.  One  column  penetrated 
the  earth  eighty-two  feet  below  low  water,  before  it 
rested  on  the  bed-rock.  The  approach  to  the  bridge  from 
the  Council  Bluffs  side  is  by  means  of  a  gradually 
ascending  embankment,  one  and  one-half  miles  in  length. 
This  bridge  was  constructed  at  a  cost  of  two  million  six 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  brings  an  annual 
revenue  of  about  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  is 
now,  by  act  of  Congress,  considered  a  part  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  making  the  eastern  terminus  of  that 
road  really  at  Council  Bluffs.  Its  total  length,  including 
its  necessary  approaches  by  embankment  on  the  eastern 
shore,  and  by  lengthy  tressel-work  on  the  western  shore 
is  nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  or  nearlt 
two  miles. 


OMAHA.  325 

The  old  depot  grounds  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
were  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  directly  under  the 
present  bridge.  In  order  to  complete  the  connection 
between  the  bridge  and  the  road,  a  branch  line,  seven 
thousand  feet  in  length,  was  laid  down  directly  through 
the  city,  and  a  new,  spacious  and  most  commodious 
depot  constructed,  on  higher  ground.  And  from  this 
depot  the  westward-bound  traveler  takes  his  departure 
for  that  western  empire  toward  the  setting  sun,  and  may, 
perhaps,  continue  his  journey  until  he  has  .reached  and 
passed  the  Golden  Gate,  and  only  the  solemn  immensity 
of  the  ocean  lies  before  him. 

Situated  midway  of  the  American  continent,  on  a 
navigable  river,  which  drains  the  northwest,  and  opens 
communication  with  the  east  and  south ;  a  prominent 
point  on  the  great  road  which  clasps  a  continent  and 
unites  the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific ;  and  at  the  same 
time  a  terminus  for  lesser  roads  which  open  up  to  it 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  interior;  and  on  the 
borders  of  two  tates  rich  in  agricultural  and  mineral 
wealth,  and  settled  by  a  thrifty,  intelligent  and  enter- 
prising people ;  Omaha  can  scarcely  fail  to  become  the 
greatest  city  west  of  St.  Louis.  Founded  but  a  generation 
ago,  its  business  is  already  stupendous,  though  it  is 
really  but  a  beginning  of  what  it  promises  to  be  in  the 
future.  As  Iowa,  Nebraska,  and  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories still  further  to  the  northwest,  become  more  thickly 
settled,  with  their  resources  developed,  it  will  form  their 
natural  commercial  centre,  to  which  they  will  look  for 
supplies,  and  where  they  will  find  a  market  or  a  port 
for  their  produce  and  manufactures.  With  such  an 
outlook,  who  will  dare  to  limit  Omaha's  possibilities  in 
the  future,  or  say  that  any  flight  of  the  imagination 
really  exceeds  what  the  actuality  may  prove  ? 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

OTTAWA. 

Ottawa,  the  seat  of  the  Canadian  Government.  —  History.  — 
Population.  —  Geographical  Position.  —  Scenery.  —  Chaudiere 
Falls. — Rideau  Falls. — Ottawa  River.  —  Lumber  Business. — 
Manufactures. — Steamboat  and  Railway  Communications. — 
Moore's  Canadian  Boat  Song. — Description  of  the  City. — 
Churches,  Nunneries,  and  Charitable  Institutions. — Government 
Buildings. — Rideau  Hall. — Princess  Louise  and  Marquis  of 
Lome. — Ottawa's  Proud  Boast 

OTTAWA  was,  in  1858,  selected  by  Queen  Victoria 
as  the  seat  of  the  Canadian  Government.  When, 
in  1867,  the  British  North  American  Possessions  were 
reconstructed  into  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  Ottawa  con- 
tinued to  be  the  Capital  city.  It  was  originally  called  By- 
town,  after  Colonel  By,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  who  was, 
in  1827,  commissioned  to  construct  the  Rideau  Canal,  and 
who  laid  out  the  town.  In  1854  it  was  incorporated  as 
a  city,  and  its  name  changed  to  Ottawa,  from  the  river 
upon  which  it  stands.  Since  that  time  it  has  increased 
rapidly  in  population  and  importance,  and  has  at  the 
present  time  not  far  from  twenty-five  thousand  inhabit- 
ants. It  is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Ottawa 
River,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rideau,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  miles  above  Montreal.  The  scenery  around 
it  is  most  magnificent,  and  is  scarcely  surpassed  by  any 
in  Canada.  At  the  west  end  of  the  city  the  Ottawa 
rushes,  in  a  magnificent  cataract,  over  a  ragged  ledge, 
two  hundred  feet  wide  and  forty  feet  high,  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Chaudiere  Falls.  Chaudiere  signifies 

326 


OTTA  WA.  327 

caldron,  and  in  the  seething  caldron  of  waters  at  the 
base  of  the  falls  a  sounding  line  three  hundred  feet  in 
length  has  not  touched  bottom.  Immediately  below 
the  falls  is  a  suspension  bridge,  from  which  a  most 
satisfactory  view  can  be  obtained.  At  the  northeast 
end  of  the  city  the  Rideau  tumbles,  in  two  cataracts, 
into  the  Ottawa.  These  cataracts  are  very  picturesque, 
but  are  exceeded  in  grandeur  by  the  Chaudi&re.  The 
Des  Chines  Rapids,  having  a  fall  of  nine  feet,  are  found 
about  eight  miles  above  Ottawa. 

The  Ottawa  River  is,  next  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
largest  stream  in  Canada.  Rising  in  the  range  of 
mountains  which  forms  the  watershed  between  Hudson 
Bay  and  the  great  lakes,  it  runs  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion for  about  six  hundred  miles  before  it  empties  into  the 
St.  Lawrence.  It  has  £wo  mouths,  which  form  the 
island  upon  which  Montreal  is  situated.  The  entire 
region  drained  by  it  and  its  tributaries  measures  eighty 
thousand  square  miles.  These  tributaries  and  the 
Ottawa  itself  form  highways  for,  probably,  the  largest 
lumber  trade  in  the  world.  The  clearing  of  great  tracts 
of  country  by  the  lumbermen  has  opened  the  way  for 
agriculturists;  and  numerous  thriving  settlements  are 
found  upon  and  near  their  banks,  all  of  which  look  to 
Ottawa  as  their  business  centre.  As  these  settlements 
increase  in  number  and  size,  the  prosperity  of  Ottawa 
will  multiply  in  proportion.  The  navigation  of  -the 
river  has  been  much  improved  by  engineering,  especially 
for  the  transportation  of  lumber,  dams  and  slides  having 
been  constructed  for  its  passage  over  rapids  and  falls. 

This  immense  supply  of  lumber  is,  much  of  it,  arrested 
at  Ottawa,  where  the  almost  unequaled  water  power  is 
utilized  in  saw-mills,  which  furnish  the  city  its  principal 


328       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

employment,  and  from  which  issue  yearly  almost  in- 
credible quantities  of  sawed  lumber.  There  are  also 
flour  mills,  and  manufactories  of  iron  castings,  mill 
machinery,  and  agricultural  implements,  which  give  it 
commercial  importance,  and  a  sound  basis  of  prosperity. 
Ottawa  is  connected  by  steamer  with  Montreal,  and 
by  the  Rideau  Canal  with  Lake  Ontario  at  Kingston, 
while  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  sends  a  branch  line 
from  Prescott.  The  Ottawa  River  is  navigable  for  one 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  miles  above  the  city,  by 
steamers  of  the  Union  Navigation  Company,  but  there 
are  numerous  portages  around  falls  and  rapids.  The  last 
stopping  place  of  the  steamer  is  Mattawa,  a  remote  port 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Beyond  that  outpost  of 
civilization  there  is  nothing  but  unexplored  and  un- 
broken wilderness.  Moore's  Canadian  boat  song  makes 
mention  of  the  Ottawa  River: — 

"Soon  as  the  woods  on  shore  look  dim, 
We'll  sing,  at  St.  Ann's,  our  parting  hymn. 

"  Ottawa's  tide,  this  trembling  moon 
Shall  see  us  afloat  on  thy  waters  soon." 

Ottawa  is  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower  Town  by 
the  Rideau  Canal,  which  contains  eight  massive  locks 
within  the  city  limits,  and  is  crossed  by  two  bridges,  one 
of  stone  and  iron,  and  the  other  of  stone  alone.  The 
streets  of  the  city  are  wide  and  regular.  Sparks  street 
is  the  fashionable  promenade,  containing  the  principal 
retail  stores.  Sussex  is  also  a  prominent  business  street. 
The  principal  hotels  are  the  Russell  House,  near  the 
Parliament  Buildings;  Windsor  House,  in  the  Upper 
Town ;  and  the  Albion,  on  Court  House  Square. 

The  most  prominent  church  edifice  in  the  city  is  the 
Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  which  is  of 


OTTA  WA.  329 

ston'e,  with  double  spires  two  hundred  feet  in  height. 
The  interior  is  very  fine,  and  contains  as  an  altar  piece 
Murillo's  "  Flight  into  Egypt."  St.  Patrick's,  Roman 
Catholic,  and  St.  Andrew's,  Presbyterian,  are  also  strik- 
ing churches.  At  the  corner  of  Boltoii  and  Sussex 
streets  is  the  imposing  stone  building  of  the  Grey 
Nunnery,  while  the  group  of  buildings  belonging  to  the 
Black  Nunnery  is  to  the  eastward  of  Cartier  Square. 
There  are,  besides,  in  the  city,  two  convents,  two  hos- 
pitals, three  orphan  asylums,  and  a  Magdalen  asylum, 
all  under  the  control  of  the  Roman  Catholics.  The 
Ottawa  University  is  also  a  Roman  Catholic  institution, 
and  has  a  large  building  in  Wilbrod  street.  The  Ladies' 
College,  in  Albert  street,  is  a  Protestant  school. 

But  all  these  structures  sink  into  insignificance  when 
compared  to  the  Government  Buildings,  which  constitute 
the  most  prominent  feature  of  the  city  of  Ottawa.  They 
are  situated  on  an  eminence  known  as  Barrack  Hill, 
which  rises  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  river, 
and  were  erected  at  a  cost  of  about  four  millions  of 
dollars.  They  form  three  sides  of  a  vast  quadrangle, 
which  occupies  nearly  four  acres.  The  Parliament 
House  is  on  the  south  side  or  front  of  the  quadrangle, 
and  is  four  hundred  and  seventy-two  feet  long,  and  the 
same  number  of  feet  deep,  from  the  front  of  the  main 
tower,  to  the  rear  of  the  library.  The  Departmental 
Buildings  run  north  from  this  main  structure,  forming 
the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  quadrangle.  The  eastern 
side  is  five  hundred  and  eighteen  feet  long,  by  two 
hundred  and  fifty-three  feet  deep,  and  the  western  side 
is  two  hundred  and  eleven  feet  long,  by  two  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  feet  deep.  These  latter  buildings 
contain  the  various  government  bureaus,  in  the  west 


330      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

block  being  also  found  the  model  room  of  the  Patent 
Office,  and  the  Post  Office.  The  entire  structure  is  of 
cream-colored  sandstone,  with  arches  and  doors  of  red 
Potsdam  sandstone,  and  the  external  ornamental  work 
of  this  sandstone.  Its  architecture  is  in  the  Italian- 
Gothic  style.  Green  and  purple  slates  cover  the  roof, 
and  the  pinnacles  are  ornamented  with  elaborate  iron 
trellis  work.  The  columns  and  arches  of  the  legislative 
chambers  are  of  marble.  These  chambers  are  capacious 
and  richly  finished,  and  have  stained  glass  windows. 
The  Chamber  of  Commons  is  reached  by  an  entrance  to 
the  left  of  the  main  entrance,  under  the  central  tower, 
and  the  marble  of  its  columns  and  arches  is  beautiful. 
The  Senate  Hall,  which  is  entered  from  the  right  of  the 
main  entrance,  contains  the  vice-regal  canopy  and  throne, 
and  a  portrait  of  Queen  Victoria.  There  are  also  full- 
length  portraits,  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  of  George  III, 
and  Queen  Charlotte.  The  Library  is  a  circular  struc- 
ture, on  the  north  front  of  the  Parliament  House,  with 
a  dome  ninety  feet  high,  and  contains  about  forty 
thousand  volumes.  A  massive  stone  wall  incloses  the 
fourth  side  of  the  quadrangle,  and  the  inclosure  is  laid 
out  with  tree-shaded  walks. 

Rideau  Hall,  the  official  residence  of  the  Governor 
General,  is  in  New  Edinburgh,  a  suburban  town  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Rideau  River,  connected  with 
Ottawa  by  a  bridge.  Rideau  Hall  has  been  for  several 
years  past  the  home  of  the  Marquis  of  Lome,  Governor 
General  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  the  Princess 
Louise,  fourth  daughter  of  Queen  Victoria.  The  love 
which  the  Canadians  bear  their  Queen  was  most  loyally 
manifested  on  the  arrival  of  the  Governor  General  and 
the  Princess,  his  wife.  Every  honor  was  shown  the 


OTTAWA.  331 

Marquis  which  was  due  his  official  and  hereditary 
rank ;  but  the  most  extravagant  marks  of  affection  and 
veneration  were  lavished  upon  the  Princess,  who  was 
regarded  as  a  representative  of  her  mother.  Whenever 
she  proceeded  through  the  Dominion,  her  progress  was 
a  triumphal  procession.  The  people  crowded  to  catch 
but  a  glimpse  of  her  face,  or  to  hear  the  tones  of  her 
voice.  She  is  described  as  an  extremely  affable  lady,  the 
beauty  of  Her  Majesty's  family,  caring  less  for  the 
traditions  and  observances  of  royalty  than  her  imperial 
mother,  with  great  native  shrewdness  and  marked 
ability  as  an  artist.  She  has  traveled  extensively 
throughout  the  dominion  of  Canada,  having  reached  its 
extreme  western  limit,  and  crossed  the  United  States 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  It  is  said  she  does 
not  greatly  admire  Canada,  and  proposes  to  spend  as 
little  time  at  Ottawa  as  possible,  regarding  the  some- 
what primitive  society  there  as  almost  semi-barbaric. 
But  when  she  returns  permanently  to  the  island  of  her 
birth  she  will  go  with  greatly  enlarged  views,  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  world,  and  especially  of  the  people  of 
the  new  world,  which  ought  to  constitute  her  an  efficient 
counsellor  in  affairs  of  state. 

The  Marquis  of  Lome,  Governor  General  of  Canada, 
is  described  as  an  extremely  handsome  gentleman  of  the 
Scotch  type,  with  large  literary  attainments,  and  with  a 
desire  to  conciliate  the  people  over  whom  he  has  been 
sent  to  rule.  For  many  generations  to  come  it  will 
undoubtedly  be  Ottawa's  highest  boast  that  it  has 
numbered  among  its  citizens  the  son  of  one  of  the 
proudest  nobles  of  the  British  realm,  and  a  princess  of 
the  blood. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

PITTSBURG. 

Pittsburg  at  Night. — A  Pittsburg  Fog. — Smoke. — Description  of 
the  City. — The  Oil  Business. — Ohio  River. — Public  Buildings, 
Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions. — Glass  Industry. — 
Iron  Foundries. — Fort  Pitt  Works.— Casting  a  Monster  Gun. 
—American  Iron  Works. — Nail  Works. — A  City  of  Workers. 
— A  True  Democracy. — Wages. — Character  of  Workmen. — 
Value  of  Organization. — Knights  of  Labor. — Opposed  to  Strikes. 
— True  Relations  of  Capital  and  Labor. — Railroad  Strike  of 
1877. — Allegheny  City. — Population  of  Pittsburg. — Early  His- 
tory—Braddock's  Defeat— Old  Battle  Ground.— Historic  Relics. 
—The  Past  and  the  Present. 

BY  all  means  make  your  first  approach  to  Pittsburg 
in  the  night  time,  and  you  will  behold  a  sj>ectacle 
which  has  not  a  parallel  on  this  continent.  Darkness  gives 
the  city  and  its  surroundings  a  picturesqueness  which 
they  wholly  lack  by  daylight.  It  lies  low  down  in  a 
hollow  of  encompassing  hills,  gleaming  with  a  thousand 
points  of  light,  which  are  reflected  from  the  rivers, 
whose  waters  glimmer,  it  may  be,  in  the  faint  moon- 
light, and  catch  and  reflect  the  shadows  as  well.  Around 
the  city's  edge,  and  on  the  sides  of  the  hills  which 
encircle  it  like  a  gloomy  amphitheatre,  their  outlines 
rising  dark  against  the  sky,  through  numberless  apertures, 
fiery  lights  stream  forth,  looking  angrily  and  fiercely  up 
toward  the  heavens,  while  over  all  these  settles  a  heavy 
pall  of  smoke.  It  is  as  though  one  had  reached  the 
outer  edge  of  the  infernal  regions,  and  saw  before  him 
the  great  furnace  of  Pandemonium  with  all  the  lids 
lifted.  The  scene  is  so  strange  and  weird  that  it  will 

332 


PITTSBURG.  333 

live  in  the  memory  forever.  One  pictures,  as  he  be- 
holds it,  the  tortured  spirits  writhing  in  agony,  their 
sinewy  limbs  convulsed,  and  the  very  air  oppressive 
with  pain  and  rage. 

But  the  scene  is  illusive.  This  is  the  domain  of 
Vulcan,  not  of  Pluto.  Here,  in  this  gigantic  workshop, 
in  the  midst  of  the  materials  of  his  labor,  the  god  of  fire, 
having  left  his  ancient  home  on  Olympus,  and  estab- 
lished himself  in  this  newer  world,  stretches  himself 
beside  his  forge,  and  sleeps  the  peaceful  sleep  \vhich  is 
the  reward  of  honest  industry.  Right  at  his  doorway  are 
mountains  of  coal  to  keep  a  perpetual  fire  upon  his  altar ; 
within  the  reach  of  his  outstretched  grasp  are  rivers  of 
coal  oil ;  and  a  little  further  away  great  stores  of  iron  for 
him  to  forge  and  weld,  and  shape  into  a  thousand  forms  ; 
and  at  his  feet  is  the  shining  river,  an  impetuous  Mer- 
cury, ever  ready  to  do  his  bidding.  Grecian  mythology 
never  conceived  of  an  abode  so  fitting  for  the  son  of  Zeus 
as  that  which  he  has  selected  for  himself  on  this  western 
hemisphere.  And  his  ancient  tasks  were  child's  play 
compared  with  the  mighty  ones  he  has  undertaken 
to-day. 

Failing  a  night  approach,  the  traveler  should  reach 
the  Iron  City  on  a  dismal  day  in  autumn,  when  the  air 
is  heavy  with  moisture,  and  the  very  atmosphere  looks 
dark.  All  romance  has  disappeared.  In  this  nineteenth 
century  the  gods  of  mythology  find  no  place  in  daylight. 
There  is  only  a  very  busy  city  shrouded  in  gloom.  The 
buildings,  whatever  their  original  material  and  color, 
are  smoked  to  a  uniform,  dirty  drab  ;  the  smoke  sinks, 
and  mingling  with  the  moisture  in  the  air,  becomes  of  a 
consistency  which  may  almost  be  felt  as  well  as  seen. 
Under  a  drab  sky  a  drab  twilight  hangs  over  the  town, 


334       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  the  gas-lights,  which  are  left  burning  at  mid-day, 
shine  out  of  the  murkiness  with  a  dull,  reddish  glare. 
Then  is  Pittsburg  herself.  Such  days  as  these  are  her 
especial  boast,  and  in  their  frequency  and  dismalness,  in 
all  the  world  she  has  no  rival,  save  London. 

In  truth,  Pittsburg  is  a  smoky,  dismal  city,  at  her  best. 
At  her  worst,  nothing  darker,  dingier  or  more  dispirit- 
ing can  be  imagined.  The  city  is  in  the  heart  of  the 
soft  coal  region;  and  the  smoke  from  her  dwellings, 
stores,  factories,  foundries  and  steamboats,  uniting, 
settles  in  a  cloud  over  the  narrow  valley  in  which  she  is 
built,  until  the  very  sun  looks  coppery  through  the 
sooty  haze.  According  to  a  circular  of  the  Pittsburg 
Board  of  Trade,  about  twenty  per  cent.,  or  one-fifth,  of 
all  the  coal  used  in  the  factories  and  dwellings  of  the  city 
escapes  into  the  air  in  the  form  of  smoke,  being  the  finer 
and  lighter  particles  of  carbon  of  the  coal,  which,  set  free 
by  fire,  escapes  unconsumed  with  the  gases.  The  conse- 
quences of  several  thousand  bushels  of  coal  in  the  air  at 
one  and  the  same  time  may  be  imagined.  But  her 
inhabitants  do  not  seem  to  mind  it;  and  the  doctors 
hold  that  this  smoke,  from  the  carbon,  sulphur  and 
iodine  contained  in  it,  is  highly  favorable  to  lung  and 
cutaneous  diseases,  and  is  the  sure  death  of  malaria  and 
its  attendant  fevers.  And  certainly,  whatever  the 
cause  may  be,  Pittsburg  is  one  of  the  healthiest  cities 
in  the  United  States.  Her  inhabitants  are  all  too  busy 
to  reflect  upon  the  inconvenience  or  uncomeliness  of  this 
smoke.  Work  is  the  object  of  life  with  them.  It 
occupies  them  from  morning  until  night,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  only  on  Sundays,  when,  for  the 
most  part,  the  furnaces  are  idle,  and  the  forges  are  silent. 
For  Pittsburg,  settled  by  Irish-Scotch  Presbyterians, 


PITTS  BURG.  335 

is  a  great  Sunday-keeping  day.  Save  on  this  day  her 
business  men  do  not  stop  for  rest  or  recreation,  nor  do 
they  "  retire"  from  business.  They  die  with  the 
harness  on,  and  die,  perhaps,  all  the  sooner  for  having 
worn  it  so  continuously  and  so  long. 

Pittsburg  is  not  a  beautiful  city.  That  stands  to 
reason,  with  the  heavy  pall  of  smoke  which  constantly 
overhangs  her.  But  she  lacks  beauty  in  other  respects. 
She  is  substantially  and  compactly  built,  and  contains 
some  handsome  edifices ;  but  she  lacks  the  architectural 
magnificence  of  some  of  her  sister  cities;  while  her 
suburbs  present  all  that  is  unsightly  and  forbidding  in 
appearance,  the  original  beauties  of  nature  having  been 
ruthlessly  sacrificed  to  utility. 

Pittsburg  is  situated  in  western  Pennsylvania,  in  a 
narrow  valley  at  the  confluence  of  the  Allegheny  and 
Monongahela  rivers,  and  at  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  and 
is  surrounded  by  hills  rising  to  the  height  of  four  or  five 
hundred  feet.  These  hills  once  possessed  rounded  out- 
lines, with  sufficient  exceptional  abruptness  to  lend  them 
variety  and  picturesqueness.  But  they  have  been  leveled 
down,  cut  into,  sliced  off,  and  ruthlessly  marred  and 
mutilated,  until  not  a  trace  of  their  original  outlines 
remain.  Great  black  coal  cars  crawl  up  and  down  their 
sides,  and  plunge  into  unexpected  and  mysterious 
openings,  their  sudden  disappearance  lending,  even  in 
daylight,  an  air  of  mystery  and  diablerie  to  the  region. 
Railroad  tracks  gridiron  the  ground  everywhere,  debris 
of  all  sorts  lies  in  heaps,  and  is  scattered  over  the  earth, 
and  huts  and  hovels  are  perched  here  and  there,  in  every 
available  spot.  There  is  no  verdure — nothing  but  mud 
and  coal,  the  one  yellow  the  other  black.  And  on  the 
edge  of  the  city  are  the  unpicturesque  outlines  of  fac- 


336       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

tories  and  foundries,  their  tall  chimneys  belching  forth 
columns  of  inky  blackness,  which  roll  and  whirl  in 
fantastic  shapes,  and  finally  lose  themselves  in  the  gen- 
eral murkiness  above. 

The  tranquil  Monongahela  comes  up  from  the  south, 
alive  with  barges  and  tug  boats;  while  the  swifter 
current  of  the  Allegheny  bears  from  the  oil  regions,  at 
the  north,  slight-built  barges  with  their  freights  of  crude 
petroleum.  Oil  is  not  infrequently  poured  upon  the 
troubled  waters,  when  one  of  these  barges  sinks,  and  its 
freight,  liberated  from  the  open  tanks,  refuses  to  sink 
with  it,  and  spreads  itself  out  on  the  surface  of  the 
stream. 

The  oil  fever  was  sorely  felt  in  Pittsburg,  and  it  was 
a  form  of  malaria  against  which  the  smoke-laden  at- 
mosphere was  no  protection.  During  the  early  years  of 
the  great  oil  speculation  the  city  was  in  a  perpetual 
state  of  excitement.  Men  talked  oil  upon  the  streets, 
in  the  cars  and  counting-houses,  and  no  doubt  thought 
of  oil  in  church.  Wells  and  barrels  of  petroleum,  and 
shares  of  oil  stock  were  the  things  most  often  mentioned. 
And  though  that  was  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  and  the 
oil  speculation  has  settled  into  a  safe  and  legitimate 
pursuit,  Pittsburg  is  still  the  greatest  oil  mart  in  the 
world.  By  the  means  of  Oil  Creek  and  the  Allegheny, 
the  oil  which  is  to  supply  all  markets  is  first  shipped 
to  Pittsburg,  passes  through  the  refineries  there,  and 
is  then  exported. 

The  Ohio  River  makes  its  beginning  here,  and  in  all 
but  the  season  of  low  water  the  wharves  of  the  city  are 
lined  with  boats,  barges  and  tugs,  destined  for  every 
mentionable  point  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers. 
The  Ohio  River  is  here,  as  all  along  its  course,  an  un- 


PITTSBURG.  337 

certain  and  capricious  stream.  Sometimes,  in  spring,  or 
early  summer,  it  creeps  up  its  banks  and  looks  men- 
acingly at  the  city.  At  other  times  it  seems  to  become 
weary  of  bearing  the  boats,  heavily  laden  with  mer- 
chandise, to  their  destined  ports,  and  so  takes  a  nap,  as 
it  were.  The  last  time  we  beheld  this  water-course  its 
bed  was  lying  nearly  bare  and  dry,  while  a  small,  slug- 
gish creek,  a  few  feet,  or  at  most,  a  few  yards  wide, 
crept  along  the  bottom,  small  barges  being  towed  down 
stream  by  horses,  which  waded  in  the  water.  The  giant 
was  resting 

The  public  buildings  and  churches  of  Pittsburg  are, 
some  of  them,  of  fine  appearance,  while  the  Mercantile 
Library  is  an  institution  to  be  proud  of,  being  both 
handsome  and  spacious,  .and  containing  a  fine  library 
and  well-supplied  reading  room.  The  city  boasts  of 
universities,  colleges,  hospitals,  and  asylums,  and  the 
Convent  of  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  is  the  oldest  house  of 
the  order  in  America.  There  are  also  two  theatres,  an 
Opera  House,  an  Academy  of  Music,  and  several  public 
halls. 

But  it  is  not  any  of  these  which  has  made  the  city 
what  she  is,  or  to  which  she  will  point  with  the  greatest 
pride.  The  crowning  glory  of  Pittsburg  is  her  monster 
iron  and  glass  works.  One-half  the  glass  produced  in 
all  the  United  States  comes  from  Pittsburg.  This 
important  business  was  first  established  here  in  1787, 
by  Albert  Gallatin,  and  it  has  increased  since  then  to 
giant  proportions.  Probably,  not  less  than  one  hundred 
millions  of  bottles  and  vials  are  annually  produced  here, 
besides  large  quantities  of  window  glass.  The  best  wins 
bottles  in  America  are  made  here,  though  they  are  in- 
ferior to  those  of  French  manufacture.  A  great  number 
a 


338      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  flint-glass  works  turn  out  the  best  flint  glass  produced 
in  the  country. 

In  addition  to  these  glass  works — which,  though  they 
employ  thousands  of  workmen,  represent  but  a  fraction 
of  the  city's  industries — there  are  rolling  mills,  foundries, 
potteries,  oil  refineries,  and  factories  of  machinery.  All 
these  works  are  rendered  possible  by  the  coal  which 
abounds  in  measureless  quantities  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  city.  All  the  hills  which  rise  from 
the  river  back  of  Pittsburg  have  a  thick  stratum  of 
bituminous  coal  running  through  them,  which  can  be 
mined  without  shafts,  or  any  of  the  usual  accessories  of 
mining.  All  that  is  to  be  done  is  to  shovel  the  coal  out 
of  the  hill-side,  convey  it  in  cars  or  by  means  of  an 
inclined  plane  to  the  factory  or  foundry  door,  and  dump 
it,  ready  for  use.  In  fact,  these  hills  are  but  immense 
coal  cellars,  ready  filled  for  the  convenience  of  the 
Pittsburg  manufacturers.  True,  in  shoveling  the  coal 
out  of  the  hill-side,  the  excavations  finally  become  galler- 
ies, running  one,  two  or  three  miles  directly  into  the 
earth.  But  there  is  neither  ascent  nor  descent ;  no  low- 
ering of  miners  or  mules  in  great  buckets  down  a  deep 
and  narrow  shaft,  no  elevating  of  coal  through  the  same 
means.  It  is  all  like  a  great  cellar,  divided  into  rooms, 
the  ceilings  supported  by  arches  of  the  coal  itself.  Each 
miner  works  a  separate  room,  and  when  the  room  is 
finished,  and  that  part  of  the  mine  exhausted  the  arches 
are  knocked  away,  pillars  of  large  upright  logs  substi- 
tuted, the  coal  removed,  and  the  hill  left  to  settle  gradu- 
ally down,  until  the  logs  are  crushed  and  flattened. 

The  "Great  Pittsburg  Coal  Seam"  is  from  four  to 
twelve  feet  thick,  about  three  hundred  feet  above  the 
water's  edge,  and  about  one  hundred  feet  from  the 


PITTSRURG.  339 

average  summit  of  the  hills.  It  is  bituminous  coal 
which  has  been  pressed  solid  by  the  great  mass  of  earth 
above  it.  The  thicker  the  mass  and  the  greater  the 
pressure,  the  better  the  coal.  It  has  been  estimated  as 
covering  eight  and  a  half  millions  of  acres,  and  that  it 
would  take  the  entire  product  of  the  gold  mines  of 
California  for  one  thousand  years  to  buy  this  one  seam. 
When  we  remember  the  numerous  other  coal  mines, 
anthracite  as  well  as  bituminous,  found  within  the  limits 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  we  are  fairly  stupefied  in 
trying  to  comprehend  the  mineral  wealth  of  that  State. 

The  coal  mined  in  the  rooms  in  these  long  galleries 
is  conveyed  in  a  mule-drawn  car  to  the  mouth  of  the 
gallery,  and  if  to  be  used  by  the  foundries  at  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  is  simply  sent  to  its  destination  down  an  inclined 
plane.  Probably  not  less  than  ten  thousand  men  are 
employed  in  these  coal  mines  in  and  near  Pittsburg, 
adding  a  population  not  far  from  fifty  thousand  to  that 
region.  Pittsburg  herself  consumes  one-third  of  the 
coal  produced,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  rest  is 
shipped  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  some  of 
it  as  far  as  New  Orleans. 

The  monster  iron  works  of  Pittsburg  consume  large 
quantities  of  this  coal,  and  it  is  the  abundance  and  con- 
venience of  the  latter  material  which  have  made  the 
former  possible.  No  other  city  begins  to  compare  with 
Pittsburg  in  the  number  and  variety  of  her  factories. 
Down  by  the  banks  of  the  swift-flowing  Allegheny  most 
of  the  great  foundries  are  to  be  discovered.  The  Fort 
Pitt  Works  are  on  a  gigantic  scale.  Here  are  cast  those 
monsters  of  artillery  known  as  the  twenty-inch  gun. 
Not  by  any  means  a  gun  twenty  inches  in  length,  but  a 
gun  with  a  bore  twenty  inches  in  diameter,  so  accurate 


340      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

that  it  does  not  vary  one-hundredth  part  of  an  inch  from 
the  true  line  in  its  whole  length.  The  ball  for  this  gun 
weighs  one  thousand  and  eighty  pounds,  and  costs  a 
hundred  and  sixty-five  dollars.  The  gun  itself  weighs 
sixty  tons,  and  costs  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  yet  one 
of  these  giants  is  cast  every  day,  and  the  operation  is 
performed  with  the  utmost  composure  and  absence  of 
confusion.  The  mould  is  an  enormous  structure  of  iron 
and  sand,  weighing  forty  tons,  and  to  adjust  this  properly 
is  the  most  difficult  and  delicate  work  in  the  foundry. 
When  it  is  all  ready,  three  streams  of  molten  iron,  from 
as  many  furnaces,  flow  through  curved  troughs  and  pour 
their  fiery  cataracts  into  the  mould.  These  streams  run 
for  twenty  minutes,  and  then,  the  mould  being  full,  the 
furnaces  from  which  they  flow  are  closed  with  a  piece  of 
clay.  Left  to  itself,  the  gun  would  be  thirty  days  in 
cooling,  but  this  process  is  expedited  to  eighteen  days, 
by  means  of  cold  water  constantly  flowing  in  and  out  of 
the  bore.  While  it  is  still  hot,  the  great  gun  is  lifted 
out  of  the  pit,  swung  across  the  foundry  to  the  turning 
shop,  the  end  shaven  off,  the  outside  turned  smooth, 
and  the  inside  hollowed  out,  with  an  almost  miraculous 
precision.  The  weight  of  the  gun  is  thus  reduced  twenty 
tons. 

The  American  Iron  Works  employ  two  thousand  five 
hundred  hands,  and  cover  seventeen  acres.  They  have 
a  coal  mine  at  their  back  door,  and  an  iron  mine  on 
Lake  Superior,  and  they  make  any  and  every  difficult 
iron  thing  the  country  requires.  Nothing  is  too  ponderous, 
nothing  too  delicate  and  exact,  to  be  produced.  The 
nail  works  of  the  city  are  well  worth  seeing.  In  them 
a  thousand  nails  a  minute  are  manufactured,  each  nail 
being  headed  by  a  blow  on  cold  iron.  The  noise  arising 


PITTSBURG.  341 

from  this  work  can  only  be  described  as  deafening.  In 
one  nail  factory  two  hundred  different  kinds  of  nails, 
tacks  and  brads  are  manufactured.  The  productions  of 
these  different  factories  and  foundries  amount  in  the 
aggregate  to  an  almost  incredible  number  and  value, 
and  embrace  everything  made  of  iron  which  can  be  used 
by  man. 

George  F.  Thurston,  writing  of  Pittsburg,  says,  it 
has  "  thirty-five  miles  of  factories  in  daily  operation, 
twisted  up  into  a  compact  tangle;  all  belching  forth 
smoke  ;  all  glowing  with  fire  ;  all  swarming  with  work- 
men ;  all  echoing  with  the  clank  of  machinery.  Actual 
measurement  shows  that  there  are,  in  the  limits  of  what 
is  known  as  Pittsburg,  nearly  thirty-five  miles  of  manu- 
factories of  iron,  of  steel,  of  cotton,  and  of  brass  alone,  not 
mentioning  manufactories  of  other  materials.  In  a  dis- 
tance of  thirty-five  and  one-half  miles  of  streets,  there  are 
four  hundred  and  seventy-eight  manufactories  of  iron, 
steel,  cotton,  brass,  oil,  glass,  copper  and  wood,  occupy- 
ing less  than  four  hundred  feet  each ;  for  a  measurement 
of  the  ground  shows  that  these  factories  are  so  contigu- 
ous in  their  positions  upon  the  various  streets  of  the  city, 
that  if  placed  in  a  continuous  row,  they  would  reach 
thirty-five  miles,  and  each  factory  have  less  than  the 
average  front  stated.  This  is  "  manufacturing  Pitts- 
burg." In  four  years  the  sale  and  consumption  of  pig 
iron  alone  was  one-fourth  the  whole  immense  production 
of  the  United  States ;  and  through  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi rivers  and  their  tributaries,  its  people  control 
the  shipment  of  goods,  without  breaking  bulk,  over 
twelve  thousand  miles  of  water  transportation,  and  are 
thus  enabled  to  deliver  the  products  of  their  thrift  in 
nearly  four  hundred  counties  in  the  territory  of  fifteen 


342      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

States.  There  is  no  city  of  its  size  in  the  country  which 
lias  so  large  a  banking  capital  as  Pittsburg.  The  Bank 
of  Pittsburg,  it  is  said,  is  the  only  bank  in  the  Union 
that  never  suspended  specie  payments. 

Pittsburg  is  a  city  of  workers.  From  the  proprie- 
tors of  these  extensive  works,  down  to  the  youngest 
apprentices,  all  are  busy ;  and  perhaps  the  higher  up 
in  the  scale  the  harder  the  work  and  the  greater  the 
worry.  A  man  who  carries  upon  his  shoulders  the 
responsibility  of  an  establishment  whose  business 
amounts  to  millions  of  dollars  in  a  year;  who  must 
oversee  all  departments  of  labor ;  accurately  adjust  the 
buying  of  the  crude  materials  and  the  scale  of  wages  on 
the  one  hand,  with  the  price  of  the  manufactured  article 
on  the  other,  so  that  the  profit  shall  be  on  the  right  side ; 
and  who  at  the  same  time  shall  keep  himself  posted  as 
to  all  which  bears  any  relation  to  his  business,  has  no 
time  for  leisure  or  social  pleasures,  and  must  even  stint 
his  hours  of  necessary  rest. 

Pittsburg  illustrates  more  clearly  than  any  other 
city  in  America  the  outcome  of  democratic  institutions. 
There  are  no  classes  here  except  the  industrious  classes; 
and  no  ranks  in  society  save  those  which  have  been 
created  by  industry.  The  mammoth  establishments, 
some  of  them  perhaps  in  the  hands  of  the  grandsons 
of  their  founders,  have  grown  from  small  beginnings, 
fostered  in  their  growth  by  industry  and  thrift.  The 
great  proprietor  of  to-day,  it  may  have  been,  was  the 
"  boss"  of  yesterday,  and  the  journeyman  of  a  few  years 
ago,  having  ascended  the  ladder  from  the  lowest  round 
of  apprenticeship.  Industry  and  sobriety  are  the  main 
aids  to  success. 

The  wages  paid  are  good,  for  the  most  part,  varying 


PITTSBURG.  343 

according  to  the  quality  of  the  employment,  some  of  them 
being  exceedingly  liberal.  The  character  of  the  work- 
men is  gradually  improving,  though  it  has  not  yet 
reached  the  standard  which  it  should  attain.  Many  are 
intelligent,  devoting  their  spare  time  to  self-improve- 
ment, and  especially  to  a  comprehension  of  the  relations 
of  capital  and  labor,  which  so  intimately  concern  them, 
and  which  they,  more  than  any  other  class  of  citizens, 
except  employers,  need  to  understand,  in  order  that  they 
may  not  only  maintain  their  own  rights,  but  may  avoid 
encroaching  on  the  rights  of  others. 

Too  many  workmen,  however,  have  no  comprehension 
of  the  dignity  of  their  own  position.  They  live  only 
for  present  enjoyment,  spend  their  money  foolishly,  not 
to  say  wickedly,  and  on  every  holiday  give  themselves 
up  to  that  curse  of  the  workingman — strong  drink. 
While  this  class  is  such  a  considerable  one,  the  entire 
ranks  of  working  men  must  be  the  sufferers.  And 
while  ignorance  as  well  as  vice  has  been  so  prevalent 
among  them,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  have 
been  constantly  undervalued,  and  almost  as  constantly 
oppressed. 

The  prosperity  of  the  country  depends  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  masses.  With  all  the  money  in  the  hands 
of  a  few,  there  are  only  the  personal  wants  of  a  few  to 
be  supplied.  With  wages  high,  work  is  always  plentier, 
and  everybody  prospers.  The  gains  of  a  large  manu- 
facturing establishment,  divided,  by  means  of  fair  profit 
and  just  wages,  between  employers  and  employed,  instead 
of  being  hoarded  up  by  one  man,  make  one  hundred 
persons  to  eat  where  there  would  otherwise  be  but  one; 
one  hundred  people  to  buy  the  productions  of  the  looms 
and  forges  of  the  country,  instead  of  only  one ;  one 


344      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

hundred  people,  each  having  a  little  which  they  spend 
at  home,  instead  of  one  man,  who  hoards  his  wealth,  or 
takes  it  to  Europe  to  dispose  of  it.  It  means  all  the 
difference  between  good  and  bad  times,  between  a  pros- 
perous country,  where  all  are  comfortable  and  happy, 
and  a  country  of  a  few  millionaires  and  many  paupers. 

No  description  of  Pittsburg  would  be  complete  with- 
out a  reference  to  the  Knights  of  Labor,  which  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  old  trades  unions  and  guilds.  While 
the  latter  were  in  existence,  that  city  was  often  the 
scene  of  violent  and  disastrous  strikes.  The  great  rail- 
road strike  of  1877,  in  which  a  number  of  lives  were 
lost,,  and  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property  destroyed, 
culminated  at  Pittsburg,  and  for  days  the  city  was 
stricken  with  panic.  The  cause  of  this  strike  was  the 
decision  of  the  railroad  corporation  to  reduce  to  one 
dollar  a  day  the  wages  of  a  certain  class  of  its  employees, 
which  were  already  too  low.  The  cause  of  these  strikers 
was  just,  but  their  methods  were  reprehensible.  The 
institution  and  spread  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  has 
rendered  such  another  strike  an  impossibility,  as  that- 
Order,  which  has  a  large  membership  among  the  work- 
men of  Pittsburg,  aims  to  settle,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
difficulties  between  employers  and  employees  by  arbitra- 
tion ;  and  its  spread  will,  we  trust,  if  it  does  not  pass 
under  the  control  of  demagogues,  eventually  result  in  a 
better  understanding  between  capital  and  labor,  and  in  a 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  their  real  interests  are  iden- 
tical. 

Pittsburg  has  no  park  or  public  pleasure  ground. 
Its  people  are  too  busy  to  think  about  such  things,  or  to 
use  them  if  it  had  them.  On  Saturday  nights  its  thea- 
tres and  variety  halls  are  crowded,  to  listen  to  entertain- 


PITTSBURG.  345 

ments  which  are  not  always  of  the  best.  When  its 
people  wish  to  visit  a  public  park,  they  must  cross  to 
Allegheny  City,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Allegheny 
Itiver,  where  there  is  a  park  embracing  a  hundred  acres, 
containing  a  monument  to  Humboldt,  and  ornamented 
with  small  lakes.  The  Soldiers'  Monument,  .erected  to 
the  memory  of  four  thousand  men  of  Allegheny  County 
who  lost  their  lives  in  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  is  also  in 
this  latter  city,  on  a  lofty  hill  near  the  river,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  city.  Many  of  the  handsome  residences  of 
Pittsburgh  merchants  and  manufacturers  are  to  be  seen 
in  this  city,  which  is  also  famous  for  its  manufacturing 
interests,  and  is  connected  with  Pittsburg  by  five  bridges. 
Birmingham  is  a  flourishing  suburb  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Monongahela  River,  containing  important 
glass  and  iron  manufactories. 

The  present  population  of  Pittsburg  is  156,381 
inhabitants.  The  first  settlement  upon  the  site  of  the 
city  was  in  1754,  when  a  French  trading  post  was 
established  and  named  Fort  Duquesne.  On  July  ninth, 
1755,  General  Braddock,  in  command  of  two  thousand 
British  troops,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Washington 
with  eight  hundred  Virginians,  marched  toward  Fort 
Duquesne  with  the  intention  of  capturing  it.  When 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  fort,  they  were  surprised  by  a 
large  party  of  French  and  Indians  in  ambush,  and 
Braddock,  who  angrily  disregarded  Washington's  advice, 
saw  his  troops  slaughtered  by  an  invisible  enemy.  The 
English  and  colonists  lost  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven  men,  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  enemy's  loss 
was  scarcely  fifty.  Braddock  himself  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  died  upon  the  battle  field,  and  in  order 
that  his  remains  might  not  be  disturbed,  Washington 


346      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

buried  him  in  the  road,  and  ordered  the  wagons  in  their 
retreat  to  drive  over  his  grave.  Washington  himself 
escaped  unhurt,  though  he  had  two  horses  shot  under 
him,  and  had  four  bullets  sent  through  his  clothes.  An 
Indian  who  was  engaged  in  this  battle  afterwards  said 
that  he  had  seventeen  fair  fires  at  Washington  during 
the  engagement,  but  was  unable  to  wound  him. 

In  1758,  Fort  Duquesne  was  abandoned  by  the  French, 
and  immediately  occupied  by  the  English,  who  changed 
its  name  to  Fort  Pitt,  in  honor  of  William  Pitt.  As  a 
town  its  settlement  dates  to  1765.  In  1804  it  was 
incorporated  as  a  borough,  and  in  1816  chartered  as  a 
city.  Its  population  in  1840,  was  a  little  more  than 
20,000.  In  1845  a  great  part  of  the  city  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  but  was  quickly  rebuilt,  its  prosperity  remaining 
unchecked. 

A  little  less  than  ten  miles  from  Pittsburg  is  the 
village  called  Braddock's  Field,  which,  in  the  names  of 
its  streets,  perpetuates  the  old  historic  associations.  The 
ancient  Indian  trail  which  led  to  the  river  is  still  pre- 
served, and  the  two  shallow  ravines  in  which  the  French 
and  Indians  lay  concealed  when  they  surprised  Brad- 
dock's  troops  are  still  there,  though  denuded  of  the 
dense  growth  of  hazel  bushes  which  at  that  period 
served  the  purpose  of  an  ambush.  From  an  old  oak  in 
this  neighborhood  many  bullets  have  been  pried  out  by 
persevering  relic  hunters  ;  while  in  the  adjacent  gardens 
the  annual  spring  plowing  invariably  turns  up  memen- 
toes of  that  historic  event,  in  the  shape  of  bullets,  arrow 
heads,  and  even  bayonets.  A  sword  with  a  name  en- 
graved upon  it  has  also  been  found. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  now  crosses  the  location 
of  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  at  the  time  of  its  con- 


PITTS  BURG.  347 

struction  a  considerable  number  of  human  bones  were 
dug  up  and  reinterred,  the  place  of  the  later  interment 
being  surrounded  by  a  rough  fence  of  common  rails. 
Children  now  play  where  once  the  forces  of  their  nations 
engaged  in  deadly  warfare.  The  hillside,  which  was 
then  pierced  by  bullets,  is  now  perforated  near  its  sum- 
mit by  large  openings,  through  which  emerge  car-loads 
of  coal.  Thus  the  present  and  the  past  strike  hands 
across  the  century,  and  modern  civilization,  with  its  im- 
plements of  industry  and  its  appliances  of  commerce, 
supersedes  and  obliterates  the  traces  of  savagery,  and  of 
the  deadly  enmity  of  man  toward  man.  The  sword  is 
turned  into  the  plowshare,  and  peace  triumphs  over 
bloodshed. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

PORTLAND. 

The  Coast  of  Maine.  —  Early  Settlements  in  Portland.  —  Troubles 
with  the  Indians.  —  Destruction  of  the  Town  in  1690.  —  Destroyed 
Again  in  1703.  —  Subsequent  Settlement  and  Growth.  —  During 
the  Revolution.  —  First  Newspaper.  —  Portland  Harbor.  —  Com- 
mercial Facilities  and  Progress.  —  During  the  Rebellion.  —  Great 
Fire  of  1866.  —  Reconstruction.  —  Position  of  the  city.  —  Streets. 
—  Munjoy  Hill.  —  Maine  General  Hospital.  —  Eastern  and  Western 
Promenades.  —  Longfellow's  House.  —  Birthplace  of  the  Poet.  — 
Market  Square  and  Hall.  —  First  Unitarian  Church.  —  Lincoln 
Park.  —  Eastern  Cemetery.  —  Deering's  Woods.  —  Commercial 
Street.  —  Old-time  Mansion.  —  Case's  Bay  and  Islands.  —  Gush- 
ing's  Island.  —  Peak's  Island.  —  Long  Island.  —  Little  Chebague 
Island.  —  Harpswell. 


hungry  ocean  has  gnawed  and  ravaged  the  New 
JL  England  coast,  until  along  almost  its  entire  length 
it  is  worn  into  ragged  edges,  forming  islands,  capes,  pro- 
montories, bold  headlands,  peninsulas,  bays,  inlets  and 
coves.  In  this  coast  is  united  the  grand,  the  picturesque 
and  the  beautiful.  Soft  masses  of  foliage  are  in  close 
juxtaposition  with  rugged  rocks  and  dashing  surf. 
Violet  turf  sweeps  down  to  meet  the  sands  washed  up 
by  the  sea.  Bays  cut  deeply  into  the  land,  forming  safe 
harbors,  and  emerald  islands  innumerable  dot  their 
surface., 

In  1632  George  Cleve  and  Richard  Tucker  landed  on 
the  beach  of  a  peninsula,  jutting  out  into  a  broad  and 
deep  bay  ,»  and  sheltered  from  the  ocean  by  a  promontory 
at  the  south,  now  known  as  Cape  Elizabeth,  and  by  a 
guard  of  islands  which  clasped  hands  around  it.  Here 

348 


PORTLAND.  349 

Cleve  built,  of  logs,  the  first  house  on  the  site  of  what  is 
now  the  city  of  Portland.  After  a  time  other  colonists 
came,  devoting  themselves  to  fishing  and  buying  furs  of 
the  Indians.  When  the  people  of  this  distant  colony 
wanted  to  go  to  Boston,  they  rode  horseback  along  the 
beach,  which  formed  the  original  highway.  The  settle- 
ment was  first  known  as  Casco,  but  its  name  was  changed 
to  Falmouth  in  1668,  though  a  portion  of  it,  where 
Portland  now  stands,  continued  to  be  known  as  Casco 
Rock.  In  1675  there  were  but  forty  families  in  the 
town,  and  the  Rock  was  still  almost  covered  by  a  dense 
forest.  In  that  year  the  Indians,  who  had  long  borne 
grievous  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  settlers  with  patient 
endurance,  arose,  under  King  Philip,  to  avenge  them.  The 
inhabitants  of  Falmouth  were  either  killed  or  carried 
into  captivity,  and  the  little  town  was  wiped  out  of 
existence. 

Three  years  later  Fort  Royal,  the  largest  fortification 
on  the  coast,  was  erected  on  a  rocky  eminence,  near  the 
present  foot  of  India  street,  where  the  round-house  of 
the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  now  stands,  and  settlers 
began  to  return.  A  party  of  French  Huguenots  settled 
there,  mills  were  set  up,  roads  cut  into  the  forest,  and 
trade  established  between  Falmouth  and  Massachusetts 
towns.  The  little  settlement  existed  under  varying 
fortunes  until  1690,  when  the  French  and  Indians,  after 
a  few  days'  siege,  captured  the  fort,  destroyed  the  town, 
and  carried  the  commanding  officer  and  his  garrison 
captives  to  Quebec.  The  war  continued  until  1698, 
during  which  time  the  place  was  only  known  as  "  de- 
serted Casco."  'In  1703  the  war  broke  out  again,  and 
what  few  inhabitants  had  straggled  back  were  killed, 
and  the  place  remained  desolate  until  1715,  when  the 


350       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

re-settlement  began.  Three  years  later  twenty  families 
had  banded  themselves  together  for  mutual  defence, 
clustering  about  the  foot  of  India  street,  and  eastward 
along  the  beach.  The  second  meeting-house  of  the  town 
was  erected  at  the  corner  of  India  and  Middle  streets, 
where  Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  in  1727,  commenced  his 
ministry,  which  extended  over  a  period  of  sixty-eight 
years. 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  1718,  and  at  that  time 
the  Neck  above  Clay  Cove  was  all  forest  and  swamp. 
A  brook  flowed  into  the  Cove,  crossed  by  bridges  at  Fore 
and  Middle  streets.  The  old  bridge  at  Middle  street 
remained  until  early  in  the  present  century.  The  trails 
stretching  out  into  the  forest  gradually  grew  into  streets, 
and  the  three  principal  ones  were  named  Fore,  Middle 
and  Back  streets.  The  name  of  the  latter  was,  late  in 
the  century,  changed  to  Congress  street. 

After  a  period  of  sixty  years  of  steady  growth,  the 
town  had  extended  only  as  far  westward  as  Centre  street, 
and  the  upper  portion  of  the  Neck  was  still  covered  with 
woods.  The  Indians  gave  the  town  little  trouble  after 
1725,  having  made  peace  in  that  year,  and  gradually 
dwindled  away,  and  emigrated  to  Canada.  In  1755  it 
was  no  longer  a  frontier  post.  Its  population  had  in- 
creased to  nearly  3,000  inhabitants,  commerce  had  been 
established,  and  the  town  was  a  peaceful  and  a  pros- 
perous one.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution 
2,555  tons  of  shipping  were  owned  in  Falmouth. 

When  the  colonies  began  to  resist  the  encroachments 
of  England,  Falmouth  took  a  prominent  and  patriotic 
stand.  In  October,  1775,  Captain  Henry  Mowatt,  with 
a  fleet  of  five  vessels,  opened  his  batteries  on  the 
town,  and,  firing  the  houses,  laid  it  in  ashes.  Over  four 


PORTLAND.  351 

hundred  buildings  were  destroyed,  leaving  only  one 
hundred  standing.  The  place  was  again  deserted,  the 
people  seeking  safety  in  the  interior. 

On  January  first,  the  Falmouth  Gazette  and  Weekly 
Advertiser,  the  first  newspaper  of  the  town,  was  pub- 
lished by  Benjamin  Titcomb  and  Thomas  B.  Waite. 
In  1786  the  town  was  divided,  the  Neck  receiving  the 
name  of  Portland,  having  at  that  time  a  population  of 
about  two  thousand.  In  1793  wharves  were  extended 
into  the  harbor.  In  1806,  its  commercial  business  and 
general  prosperity  were  unexampled  in  New  England. 
The  duties  collected  at  "the  Custom  House  reached,  in 
that  year,  $342,809,  having  increased  from  $8,109  in 
1790.  But  in  1807,  the  embargo  which  followed  the 
non-intercourse  policy  of  1806  resulted  in  the  suspen- 
sion of  commerce  and  the  temporary  ruin  of  the  ship- 
ping interests.  Commercial  houses  were  prostrated,  and 
great  distress  prevailed.  The  harbor  was  empty,  and 
grass  grew  upon  the  wharves.  In  the  war  of  1812 
privateers  were  fitted  out  here,  some  of  which  damaged 
the  enemy,  while  others  were  captured.  After  the  peace 
of  1815  commerce  revived  but  slowly,  and  the  popula- 
tion as  slowly  increased. 

In  March,  1820,  Maine  was  separated  from  Massachu- 
setts, and  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  State,  and  Port- 
land became  its  capital.  In  1832  the  capital  was  removed 
to  Augusta.  In  1828  the  first  steamboat  anchored  in 
the  harbor  of  Portland,  having  arrived  from  New 
York  to  run  as  a  passenger  boat  between  Portland  and 
Boston.  The  Portland  Steam  Packet  Company  was 
organized  in  1844,  and  has  continued  in  successful 
operation  ever  since. 

Portland  has  one  of  the  deepest  and  best  harbors  in 


352      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  world,  with  a  depth  of  forty  feet  at  low  tide.  Its 
surroundings  are  exceptionally  favorable  for  a  commer- 
cial city,  and  were  it  not  for  its  geographical  location,  it 
being  so  far  north  of  the  great  areas  of  population,  it 
would  undoubtedly  have  gained  a  prominence  over  most 
of  the  Atlantic  cities.  But  Boston  and  New  York  drew 
all  but  the  provincial  trade  and  commerce,  and  with  a 
sparsely  settled  country  at  its  back,  there  was  little  to 
build  up  Portland  and  give  it  great  prosperity.  In  1850 
the  Cumberland  and  Oxford  Canal,  connecting  the 
waters  of  Sebago  Lake  with  Portland  Harbor,  was 
completed.  This  was  not  a  great  enterprise,  certainly, 
as  compared  with  modern  undertakings  ;  but  the  Port- 
landers  thought  a  good  deal  of  it  at  the  time.  Between 
1840  and  1846,  the  city  endured  another  season  of  de- 
pression. Railroads  had  given  to  Boston  much  of  the 
business  that  had  formerly  found  a  natural  outlet  through 
Portland ;  but  in  the  latter  year  a  railroad  was  planned 
to  Canada,  which,  when  completed,  in  1853,  brought  it 
into  connection  with  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  pro- 
vinces, and  with  the  vast  grain-growing  regions  of  the 
west.  A  winter  line  of  steamers  to  Liverpool  followed, 
and  the  rapidly  increasing  commerce  of  the  city  soon 
resulted  in  the  construction  of  a  wide  business  avenue, 
extending  a  mile  in  length,  along  the  whole  water  front 
of  the  city.  This  new  street  was  called  Commercial,  and 
became  the  locality  of  heavy  wholesale  trade.  Closely 
following,  came  the  opening  up  of  railroads  to  all  sec- 
tions of  the  State,  and  the  establishment  of  steamboat 
lines  along  the  coast,  as  far  as  the  Lower  Provinces. 
Trade  that  had  hitherto  gone  to  Boston  was  thus  re- 
claimed, new  manufacturing  establishments  sprung  up, 
and  an  era  of  prosperity  seemed  fairly  inaugurated. 


PORTLAND.  353 

Portland  manifested  her  patriotism  during  the  war  of 
the  Rebellion,  contributing  5,000  men  to  the  army,  of 
whom  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  returned,  In  June, 
1863,  the  United  States  Revenue  cutter,  Caleb  Gushing, 
having  been  captured  by  Rebels,  and  pursued  by  the 
officials  of  the  city,  and  becoming  becalmed  near  the 
Green  Islands,  was  blown  up  by  her  captors,  the  latter 
taking  to  the  boats,  only  to  be  captured  and  sent  to  Fort 
Preble  as  prisoners  of  war. 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  1866,  a  fire-cracker,  carelessly 
thrown  in  a  boat  builder's  shop,  on  Commercial,  near 
the  foot  of  High  street,  resulted  in  a  fire  which  laid  in 
ruins  more  than  half  the  city  of  Portland.  The  fire 
commenced  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
sparks  soon  communicated  with  Brown's  Sugar  House, 
and  thence,  spreading  out  like  a  fan,  swept  diagonally 
across  the  city,  destroying  everything  in  its  track,  until 
a  space  one  and  one-half  miles  long,  by  one  and  one- 
fourth  miles  broad,  was  so  completely  devastated  that 
only  a  forest  of  tottering  walls  and  blackened  chimneys 
remained,  and  it  was  difficult  to  trace  even  the  streets. 
The  fire  was  fanned  into  such  a  fury  by  a  gale  which 
was  blowing  at  the  time,  that  the  efforts  of  the  firemen 
were  without  avail,  and  the  work  of  destruction  was  only 
stayed  when,  as  a  last  resort,  buildings  in  its  path  were 
blown  up  before  the  flames  had  reached  them.  The 
entire  business  portion,  embracing  one-half  the  city, 
was  destroyed.  Every  bank  and  newspaper  office, 
every  lawyer's  office,  many  stores,  churches,  public  build- 
ings and  private  residences  were  swept  away.  Fire- 
proof structures,  which  were  hastily  filled  with  valu- 
ables, in  the  belief  that  they  would  withstand  the  flames, 
crumbled  to  the  earth,  as  though  melted  by  the  intense 

23 


354      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

heat.  Only  one  building  on  Middle  street  stood  un- 
scathed, though  the  flames  swept  around  it  in  a  fiery 
sea.  The  fire  did  not  burn  itself  out  until  early  in  the 
morning  of  the  following  day,  when  it  paused  at  the 
foot  of  Mountjoy  Hill.  When  morning  came,  the  in- 
habitants looked  with  terror  and  dismay  upon  fifteen 
hundred  buildings  in  ashes,  fifty-eight  streets  and  courts 
desolated,  ten  thousand  people  homeless,  and  $10,000,000 
worth  of  property  destroyed. 

The  work  of  succor  and  reconstruction  immediately 
began.  The  churches  were  thrown  open  to  shelter  the 
homeless ;  Mountjoy  Hill  was  speedily  transformed  into 
a  village  of  tents;  barracks  were  built;  contributions 
of  food,  clothing  and  money  poured  in  from  near  and 
far ;  the  old  streets  were  widened  and  straightened,  and 
new  ones  opened ;  and  before  the  year  had  closed  many 
substantial  buildings  and  blocks  had  been  completed, 
and  others  were  in  process  of  erection.  The  new  Port- 
land has  arisen  from  the  ruins  of  the  old,  more  stately, 
more  beautiful  and  more  substantial  than  before ;  and 
after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  the  evil  which  the  fire 
wrought  is  forgotten,  and  only  the  good  is  manifest. 
Railroads  have  since  been  built,  and  travel  and  commerce 
is  each  year  increasing.  The  population  of  Portland  in 
1880  was  33,810  inhabitants. 

The  approach  to  Portland  is  more  beautiful,  even,  than 
that  to  New  York.  The  city  is  built  upon  a  small 
peninsula  rising  up  out  of  Casco  Bay,  to  a  mean  central 
elevation  of  more  than  one  hundred  feet.  This  penin- 
sula projects  from  the  main  land  in  a  northeast  direction, 
and  is  about  three  miles  long,  by  an  average  breadth  of 
three-fourths  of  a  mile.  An  arm  of  the  Bay,  called 
Fore  River,  divides  it  on  the  south  from  Cape  Elizabeth, 


PORTLAND.  355 

and  forms  an  inner  harbor  of  more  than  six  hundred 
acres  in  extent,  and  with  an  average  depth,  at  high  water, 
of  thirty  feet.  Vessels  of  the  largest  size  can  anchor 
in  the  main  harbor,  in  forty  feet  of  water  at  low  tide. 
The  waters  of  the  Back  Cove  separate  it  on  the  north 
from  the  shores  of  Deering,  and  form  another  inner  basin, 
of  large  extent  and  considerable  depth. 

At  the  northeasternmost  extremity  of  the  Neck, 
Munjoy  Hill  rises  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
sixty-one  feet,  and  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  the 
city,  bay,  adjacent  islands  and  the  ocean  beyond.  At 
the  southwestern  extremity  is  Bramhall's  Hill,  rising 
to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet,  and  commanding 
city,  bay,  forests,  fields,  villages  and  mountains.  The 
land  sinks  down  between  these  two  elevations,  but  at 
its  lowest  point  still  rises  fifty-seven  feet  above  high 
tide.  The  elevation  of  its  site,  and  the  beauty  of  its 
scenery  and  surroundings,  are  fast  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  tourists,  and  drawing  to  the  city  hosts  of  sum- 
mer visitors. 

The  peninsula  is  covered  with  a  network  of  streets 
and  lanes,  containing  an  aggregate  length  of  fifty  miles, 
while  it  has  thirty  wharves  to  accommodate  the  commerce 
of  the  port.  Congress  street,  the  main  thoroughfare  of 
the  city,  is  three  miles  in  length,  and  extends  from 
Bramhall  to  Munjoy.  Running  parallel  to  it  for  a 
part  of  its  length,  on  the  southern  slope,  are  Middle 
street,  a  business  street,  devoted  principally  to  the 
wholesale  and  retail  trade ;  Fore  street,  the  ancient  water 
street  of  the  city,  but  now  devoted  to  miscellaneous 
trade ;  and  Commercial  street,  which  commands  the 
harbor,  and  is  principally  devoted  to  large  wholesale 
business.  At  the  west  end  there  are  other  streets  between 


356      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Congress  and  Commercial,  including  Spring,  Danforth 
and  York.  Cumberland,  Oxford,  supplemented  on  its 
western  end  by  Portland,  Lincoln,  along  the  shore  of 
Back  Cove,  also  supplemented  on  its  western  end  by 
Kennebec  street,  are  on  the  northern  slope  of  Congress 
street.  The  cross  streets  are  numerous.  India  street, 
at  the  eastern  end,  was  the  early  site  of  population  and 
business;  Franklin  and  Beal  streets  are  the  only  ones 
running  straight  across  the  peninsula,  from  water  to 
water;  Exchange  street,  devoted  to  banks,  brokers' 
offices  and  insurance  agencies,  and  High  and  State 
streets,  occupied  by  private  residences,  are  the  principal 
ones.  There  is  partially  completed  around  the  entire 
city  a  Marginal  Way,  one  hundred  feet  in  width,  and 
nearly  five  miles  in  length. 

Munjoy  Hill  is  a  suburb,  which  is  almost  a  distinct 
village,  being  occupied  by  residences  of  the  middle  class, 
who  have  their  own  schools,  churches,  and  places  of 
business.  From  its  summit,  at  early  morning,  one  may 
see  the  sun  rise  up  out  of  the  ocean,  in  the  midst  of 
emerald  islands.  On  this  hill,  in  1690,  Lieutenant  Thad- 
deus  Clark,  with  thirteen  men,  was  shot  by  Indians  in 
ambush;  the  hill  being  then  covered  with  forest.  On 
the  same  hill,  in  1717,  Lieutenant-Governor  Dammer 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  which  secured  a  peace  for 
many  years;  and  in  1775  Colonel  Thompson  captured 
Captain  Mowatt,  in  revenge  for  which  the  latter  sub- 
sequently burned  the  city.  In  1808  the  third  and  last 
execution  for  murder  took  place  here;  and  in  1866  here 
arose  the  village  of  tents  after  the  great  conflagration.  The 
Observatory,  built  in  1807,  is  upon  Munjoy,  having  been 
erected  for  the  purpose  of  signaling  shipping  approach- 
ing the  harbor.  It  is  eighty-two  feet  high,  and  from  it 


PORTLAND.  357 

one  can  obtain  the  best  view  of  the  city  and  its  surround- 
ings. Casco  Bay  lies  to  the  northeast,  dotted  with 
islands.  To  the  eastward,  four  miles  distant,  beyond 
its  barrier  of  islands,  the  Atlantic  keeps  up  the  never- 
ending  music  of  its  waves.  To  the  southward  is  the 
city,  with  the  harbor  and  the  shipping  beyond.  Faraway 
to  the  northeast  is  Mount  Washington,  faintly  outlined 
upon  the  horizon,  prominent  in  the  distant  range  of 
mountains.  Adjoining  the  Observatory  is  the  Congress 
street  Methodist^Episcopal  Church,  a  beautiful  edifice, 
its  slender,  graceful  spire  being  a  most  conspicuous 
object  from  the  harbor  and  the  sea,  and  rising  to  the 
greatest  height  of  any  in  the  city. 

The  western  end,  including  Bramhall  Hill,  is  the 
fashionable  quarter;  and  having  been  spared  in  the 
conflagration  of  1866,  many  ancient  mansions  remain, 
surrounded  by  newer  and  more  elegant  residences.  The 
houses  are  in  the  midst  of  well-kept  lawns  and  gardens, 
and  the  streets  are  shaded  by  stately  elms,  some  of  them 
of  venerable  age.  The  views  through  these  avefmes  of 
trees,  through  some  of  the  streets  leading  down  to  the 
water,  are  delightful  beyond  description,  the  overarching 
foliage  framing  in  glimpses  of  water,  fields,  distant  hills 
and  blue  sky.  At  evening,  from  Bramhall's  Hill,  one 
looks  over  a  beautiful  and  varied  landscape,  brightened 
by  the  glow  of  sunset  on  the  western  sky.  The  Maine 
General  Hospital  stands  on  Bramhall  Hill,  an  imposing 
edifice,  and  one  of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the 
city. 

The  Western  Promenade,  a  wide  avenue  planted  with 
rows  of  trees,  runs  along  the  brow  of  BramhalPs  Hill. 
The  hill  is  named  after  George  Bramhall,  who  ir.  1680 
bought  a  tract  of  four  hundred  acres,  and  made  h'inself 


358      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

a  home  in  the  wilderness.  Nine  years  later  he  was 
killed  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  in  a  fight  with  the  Indians. 
From  the  summit  of  the  hill  may  be  seen  the  waters  of 
Fore  River  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Back  Cove  on  the 
other.  Beyond  is  a  wide  stretch  of  field  and  forest, 
broken  by  villages  and  farmhouses,  with  the  spires  of 
Gorham  in  view,  and  far  away,  behind  them,  Ossipee 
Mountain,  fifty-five  miles  distant,  in  New  Hampshire. 
To  the  east  is  the  church  of  Standish,  Maine,  and  Cho- 
corue  Peak  rising  behind  it ;  Mount  Carrigain,  sixty- 
three  miles  away,  the  line  of  the  Saddleback  in  Sebago, 
and  far  beyond,  the  sun-capped  summits  of  the  White 
Mountains. 

The  Eastern  Promenade  is  on  Munjoy's  Hill,  and 
commands  views  equally  beautiful. 

The  Preble  House  is  in  Congress  street,  shaded  by 
four  magnificent  elms,  which  have  survived  from  the 
days  of  the  Preble  Mansion.  Next  to  it,  sitting  back 
from  the  street,  and  also  shaded  by  elms,  is  the  first 
brick  house  built  in  Portland.  It  was  begun  in  1785, 
by  General  Peleg  Wadsworth,  and  finished  the  following 
year,  by  his  son-in-law,  Stephen  Longfellow.  It  is 
known  as  the  Longfellow  House,  but  it  is  not  the  place 
where  the  poet  was  born.  He  lived  here  in  his  youth, 
and  frequently  visited  the  house  in  later  days ;  and  it  is 
still  in  the  possesesion  of  his  family.  But  Henry 
Wadsworth  Longfellow  first  saw  the  light  on  February 
twenty-seventh,  1807,  in  an  old-fashioned  wooden  house, 
at  the  corner  of  Fore  and  Hancock  streets.  The  sea  at  that 
period  flowed  up  to  the  road  opposite  the  house,  which 
commanded  a  fine  view  of  the  harbor.  New-made  land 
crowds  it  further  away,  and  the  trains  of  the  Grand 
Trunk  Railway  run  where  the  tide  once  ebbed  and 


PORTLAND.  359 

flowed.  Not  far  off  is  the  site  of  the  first  house  ever 
built  in  Portland,  by  George  Cleves,  in  1832. 

Nathaniel  P.  Willis  was  also  born  in  Portland,  but  a 
little  more  than  a  mouth  earlier  than  Longfellow.  Both 
his  father  and  his  grandfather  had  been  publishers,  the 
latter  having  been  apprenticed  in  the  same  printing  office 
with  Benjamin  Franklin.  Sarah  Payson  Willis,  subse- 
quently Mrs.  James  Parton,  still  better  known  as  Fanny 
Fern,  a  sister  of  the  poet,  was  also  a  native  of  Portland. 
John  Neal,  born  in  Portland  August  twenty-fifth,  1793, 
was  a  man  well  known  as  a  poet,  novelist  and  journalist. 
Seba  Smith,  author  of  the  Jack  Downing  Papers,  Mrs.  E. 
Oakes  Smith,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Oakes  Allen,  Nathaniel 
Deering,  Rev.  Elijah  Kellogg,  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Stephens, 
Mrs.  Margaret  J.  M.  Sweat,  and  other  well-known 
authors,  have  been  either  natives  of  or  residents  in 
Portland.  General  Neal  Dow,  who  served  in  the  late 
war,  and  so  famous  as  an  advocate  of  prohibition,  finds 
his  home  in  Portland,  at  the  corner  of  Congress  and  Dow 
streets.  William  Pitt  Fessenden,  late  Senator  and  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  claimed  Portland  as  his  home. 

Market  Square  is  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  surrounded 
by  stores,  hotels,  halls,  and  places  of  amusement.  Mili- 
tary Hall  stands  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  square,  and 
was  built  in  1825,  as  a  town  hall  and  market  place.  The 
building  contains  a  history  in  itself.  Here,  before  the 
city  charter  was  obtained,  in  1832,  town  meetings  were 
held,  and  subsequently  it  was  the  headquarters  of  the 
city  government.  Military  companies  had  and  still  have 
their  armories  there ;  and  it  has  been  the  place  of  many 
exciting  political  meetings.  In  it  Garrison  uttered  his 
anathemas  against  slavery,  and  Stephen  A.  Foster  was 
assaulted  by  a  brutal  pro-slavery  mob.  Sumner,  Fes- 


360      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

senden,  and  other  political  orators,  have  poured  out  their 
eloquence  within  its  hall,  and  parties  have  been  made  and 
unmade.  On  holidays  Market  Square  is  crowded  with 
an  animated  throng,  and  at  night,  when  peddlers  and 
mountebanks  take  their  stands  and  display  their  wares 
by  the  light  of  flaming  torches,  the  scene  is  especially 
picturesque. 

On  Congress  street,  not  far  from  Market  Square,  is 
the  First  Parish  (Unitarian)  Church,  which  was  rebuilt 
in  1825,  on  the  site  which  the  old  church  had  occupied 
since  1740.  This  church  is  remarkable  for  its  long 
pastorates,  there  having  been  but  four  pastors  from  1727 
to  1864,  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  thirty -seven  years. 
The  present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Hill,  ex- 
President  of  Harvard  College. 

Lincoln  Park  is  a  public  square,  bounded  by  Con- 
gress, Franklin,  Federal  and  Pearl  streets.  It  contains 
a  little  less  than  two  and  one-half  acres,  in  the  middle 
of  which  is  a  fountain.  This  park  is  in  the  centre  of 
the  district  swept  by  the  conflagration  of  1866,  and 
looking  on  every  side,  not  a  building  meets  the  eye 
which  was  erected  previous  to  that  year. 

The  largest  and  most  costly  church  in  Portland  is  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  fronting  on 
Cumberland  street.  It  is  one  hundred  and  ninety-six 
feet  in  length,  by  one  hundred  in  width,  with  a  spire 
rising  in  the  air  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet.  It  is 
of  brick,  and  is  imposing  only  on  account  of  its  size. 
Its  interior,  however,  is  finished  and  decorated  in  a 
style  surpassed  by  few  churches  in  the  country. 

The  Eastern  Cemetery,  on  Congress  street,  is  the 
oldest  graveyard  in  Portland.  For  two  hundred  years 
it  was  the  common  burial  ground  of  the  settlement,  and 


PORTLAND.  361 

here,  probably,  all  the  early  colonists  sleep  their  last 
sleep,  though  their  graves  are  forgotten.  The  oldest 
tombstone  which  the  yard  seems  to  contain  is  that  of 
Mrs.  Mary  Green,  who  died  in  1717.  On  the  opposite 
side  of  the  yard,  near  Mountford  street,  are  the  monu- 
ments erected  to  the  memory  of  William  Burroughs,  of 
the  United  States  Brig  Enterprise,  and  Samuel  Blythe, 
of  His  Majesty's  Brig  Boxer,  who  fought  and  died  to- 
gether, on  September  fifth,  1813,  and  were  buried  here. 
Lieut.  Kerwin  Waters,  of  the  Enterprise,  wounded  in  the 
same  action,  lies  beside  them.  Of  him  Longfellow  sung: — 

"  I  remember  the  sea  fight  far  away, 

How  it  thundered  o'er  the  tide ! 
And  the  dead  captains,  as  they  lay 
In  their  graves  o'erlooking  the  tranquil  bay, 

Where  they  in  battle  died." 

There  is  a  white  marble  monument  to  Commodore 
Preble,  and  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Henry  Wadsworth, 
uncle  of  the  poet  Longfellow,  who  fell  before  Tripoli  in 
1804,  is  also  commemorated  here. 

Congress  Square,  at  the  junction  of  Fore  street,  has 
an  elevated  position,  and  is  surrounded  by  churches  of 
various  denominations.  From  Congress  street,  near 
where  it  is  joined  by  Mellen  street,  the  visitor  can  look 
off  to  Deering's  Woods,  which  rise  on  the  borders  of  a 
creek,  running  in  from  Back  Cove.  This  tract  of  wood- 
land has  come  into  possession  of  the  city,  and  will  be 
preserved  as  a  park.  Longfellow  sings  of 

"  The  breezy  dome  of  groves, 

The  shadows  of  Deering's  Woods." 
Again : — 

"  And  Deering's  Woods  are  fresh  and  fair, 

And  with  joy  that  is  almost  pain 
My  heart  goes  back  to  wander  there, 
And  among  the  dreams  of  the  days  that  were 


362      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  reservoir  of  the  Portland  Water  Works  is  at  the 
junction  of  Bramhall  and  Brackett  streets.  It  has  an 
area  of  100,000  square  feet,  with  a  capacity  of  12,000,- 
000  gallons,  and  is  supplied  with  water  from  Lake 
Sebago,  seventeen  miles  distant. 

The  extensive  premises  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway 
lie  at  the  foot  of  India  street,  where  are  wharves  for  the 
great  freight  business  between  Canada  and  Europe,  and 
where  the  Dominion  and  Beaver  Line  of  steamships, 
every  fortnight,  from  November  to  May,  send  ships  to 
Liverpool.  The  scene  during  the  winter  season  is  a 
busy  one,  and  the  amount  of  freight  handled  and  shipped 
is  immense.  Then  begins  Commercial  street,  the  modern 
business  avenue  of  the  city,  which  runs  its  whole  water 
front,  with  a  railroad  track  in  the  middle  of  it.  On 
this  street  is  the  old  family  mansion  of  the  widow  of 
Brigadier  Preble,  built  in  1786,  on  the  site  of  his  father's 
house,  destroyed  by  fire  in  1775.  It  then  occupied  a 
beautiful  and  retired  locality,  looking  out  upon  the 
harbor,  and  surrounded  by  ample  grounds.  But  now 
it  is  strangely  out  of  keeping  with  its  neighbors.  Oppo- 
site it  now  stands  the  grain  elevator  of  the  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  having  been  built  in  1875,  with  a  capacity  of 
200,000  bushels.  All  around  are  wholesale  shipping 
and  commission  houses,  and  wharves  of  ocean  steamships 
extend  up  and  down  the  shore. 

When  Captain  John  Smith,  famous  in  the  early 
history  of  Virginia,  and  the  first  tourist  who  ever  visited 
Maine,  made  his  famous  summer  trip  thither,  in  1614, 
he  described  the  place  as  follows : — "  Westward  of 
Kennebec  is  the  country  of  Ancocisco,  in  the  bottom  of  a 
deep  bay  full  of  many  great  isles,  which  divide  it  into 
many  great  harbors."  Ancocisco  was  very  soon  abbre- 
viated to  Casco,  and  the  bay  is  still  filled  with  many 


PORTLAND.  363 

great  isles.  Casco  Bay,  extending  from  Cape  Elizabeth, 
on  the  west,  to  Cape  Small  Point,  on  the  east,  a  distance 
of  about  eighteen  miles,  with  a  width  of,  perhaps,  twelve 
miles,  contains  more  islands  than  any  other  body  of 
water  of  like  extent  in  the  whole  United  States.  It  is  a 
popular  belief  that  these  islands  number  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five — one  for  every  day  in  the  year;  but  a 
regard  for  truth  compels  us  to  state,  that  of  the 
named  and  unnamed  islands  and  islets,  there  are  only  one 
hundred  and  twenty-two,  while  a  few  insignificant  rocks 
and  reefs  would  not  swell  the  number  to  one  hundred 
and  forty.  These  islands  are  divided  into  three  ranges, 
the  Inner,  Middle  and  Outer.  The  Inner  range  con- 
tains twenty  islands;  the  Middle  range,  twenty-four; 
and  the  Outer  range,  seventy-eight.  Besides  these 
islands,  the  shore  is  very  much  broken,  and  extends  out 
into  the  bay  in  picturesque  points  or  fringes,  the 
creeks,  inlets  and  tidal  rivers  extending  far  inland.  In 
this  bay  was  discovered,  by  a  mariner  named  Joselyn,  in 
1639,  a  triton  or  merman,  and  the  first  sea  serpent  of 
the  coast.  Seals  breed  and  sport  on  a  ledge  in  the  inner 
bay,  off  the  shore  of  Falmouth,  and  its  waters  abound 
with  edible  fish  and  sea-fowl. 

Ferry  boats  convey  an  endless  stream  of  pleasure- 
seekers  to  the  different  islands,  during  the  summer  season. 
Cushing's  Island  lies  at  the  mouth  of  Portland  Harbor, 
forming  one  shore  of  the  ship  channel.  Its  southern 
shore  presents  a  rocky  and  precipitous  front,  culminat- 
ing in  a  bold  bluff  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
high,  known  as  White  Head.  The  island  looks  out 
upon  the  harbor  from  smiling  fields  and  low,  tree-bor- 
dered beaches.  It  furnishes  good  opportunities  for 
fishing  and  bathing,  and  is  fast  becoming  a  popular 


364      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

summer  resort.  It  is  five  miles  in  circumference,  and 
commands  magnificent  sea  views. 

Peak's  Island  is  separated  from  Cushing's  Island  by 
White  Head  Passage,  and  with  the  latter  forms  an 
effectual  barrier  to  the  ocean.  Like  it,  it  presents  a  bold 
front  to  the  sea,  and  smiles  upon  the  bay.  It  is  about 
one  and  one-half  miles  long,  by  one  and  one-fourth 
miles  wide,  and  rises  gradually  to  a  central  elevation 
of,  perhaps,  one  hundred  feet,  commanding  extensive 
views  of  the  ocean  and  harbor,  and  of  the  mountains, 
eighty  miles  away.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
all  the  islands  of  Casco  Bay,  and  has  a  resident  popula- 
tion of  three  hundred  and  seventy  persons,  who  are 
largely  descendants  of  the  first  settlers. 

Long  Island  lies  northeast  of  Peak's  Island,  and  is 
separated  from  it  by  Hussey's  Sound.  It  has  an  area 
of  three  hundred  and  twelve  acres,  presenting  a  long, 
ragged  line  of  shore  to  the  sea.  Its  population  was,  in 
1880,  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  inhabitants,  the  men 
engaged  in  fishing  and  farming. 

Little  Chebague  lies  inside  of  Long  Island,  and  is 
connected  with  Great  Chebague  by  a  sand  bar,  dry  at  low 
water.  A  hotel  and  several  summer  cottages  stand  upon 
the  island,  and  it  is  an  attractive  place. 

Harpswell  is  a  long  peninsula,  about  fourteen  miles 
down  the  bay,  and  is  much  resorted  to  by  picnic 
parties.  To  the  eastward  lies  Bailey's  Island,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  bay,  and  to  the  northward  is  Orr's 
Island,  the  scene  of  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe's  novel, 
"The  Pearl  of  Orr's  Island."  Rising  between  Bailey's 
Island  and  Small  Point  Harbor  is  the  Elm  Island  of 
Rev.  Elijah  Kellogg's  stories.  Whittier  has  written  a 
poem  entitled  "  The  Dead  Ship  of  Harpswell,"  in  which 


PORTLAND.  365 

he  describes  a  spectre  ship  which  never  reaches  the  land, 
and  is  a  sure  omen  of  deatli : — 

"  In  vain  o'er  Harpswell's  neck  the  star 

Of  evening  guides  her  in, 
In  vain  for  her  the  lamps  are  lit 

Within  thy  town,  Seguin  ! 
In  vain  the  harbor  boat  shall  hail, 

In  vain  the  pilot  call ; 
No  hand  shall  reef  her  spectral  sail, 

Or  let  her  anchor  fall." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PHILADELPHIA.  1 

Early  History. — William  Penn. — The  Revolution. — Declaration 
of  Independence. — First  Railroad. — Riots- — Streets  and  Houses. 
— Relics. of  the  Past. — Independence  Hall. — Carpenters'  Hall. 
— Blue  Anchor. — Letitia  Court. — Christ  Church. — Old  Swedes 
Church. — Benjamin  Franklin. — Libraries. — Old  Quaker  Alms- 
house.  —  Old  Houses  in  Germantown.  —  Manufactures.  — 
Theatres. — Churches. — Scientific  Institutions.  —  Newspapers. — 
Medical  Colleges. — Schools. — Public  Buildings. — Penitentiary. 
—  River  Front. — Fairmount  Park. — Zoological  Gardens. — 
Cemeteries.  — Centennial  Exhibition.  —  Bi-Centennial. —  Past, 
Present  and  Future  of  the  City. 

IN  the  year  1610,  Lord  Thomas  de  la  War,  on  his 
voyage  from  England  to  Virginia,  entered  what 
is  now  Delaware  Bay,  and  discovered  the  river  flowing 
into  it,  to  which  he  also  gave  his  name.  The  Dutch 
made  a  prior  claim  to  the  discovery  of  the  land  which 
bordered  this  river,  and  retained  possession  for  a  time. 
But  there  were  difficulties  in  maintaining  their  settle- 
ments, and  in  1638  the  Swedes  sent  out  a  colony  from 
Stockholm,  and  established  a  footing  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  river,  afterwards  known  as  Pennsylvania.  The 
Dutch  at  New  York,  however,  would  not  submit  to  this 
arrangement,  and  under  Peter  Stuyvesant,  Governor  of 
Manhattan,  demanded  the  surrender  of  their  fort — now 
called  Trinity  Fort — which  was  yielded.  The  Dutch 
authority  lasted  for  a  short  time  only.  In  1664  the 
English  captured  Manhattan  and  expelled  the  Dutch, 
and  in  the  same  year  an  expedition  under  Sir  Robert 

366 


PHILADELPHIA.  367 

Carr  came  to  the  Delaware,  fired  two  broadsides  into 
Trinity  Fort,  landed  storming  parties,  assaulted  the  fort, 
killed  three  Dutchmen,  wounded  ten,  and  in  triumph 
raised  the  flag  of  England,  which  was  thereafter  supreme 
on  the  Delaware  for  nine  years. 

In  1672  the  Dutch  tried  their  strength  again,  and 
summoned  the  English  fort  at  Staten  Island  to  surren- 
der. This  summons  was  complied  with,  and  the  Eng- 
lish of  New  York  swore  allegiance  to  the  Prince  of 
Orange.  The  people  upon  the  banks  of  the  Delaware 
soon  accommodated  themselves  to  the  change  of  masters, 
and  welcomed  the  Dutch.  But  this  was  their  last  ap- 
pearance upon  the  Delaware.  In  the  next  year,  1673, 
their  settlements  in  America  were  all  ceded,  through  the 
fortune  of  war,  to  Great  Britain,  and  this  territory 
once  more  passed  under  the  English  flag. 

About  this  time  the  name  of  William  Penn  enters 
into  American  history.  The  British  Government  being 
largely  indebted  to  his  father,  Admiral  William  Penn, 
the  son  found  little  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  grant  for  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  America,  upon  which  to  found  a 
colony.  This  was  in  1681.  He  immediately  sent  out 
to  his  wooded  possessions,  which  he  named  Pennsylvania, 
his  cousin,  Captain  William  Markham,  who  had  been 
a  soldier,  with  a  commission  to  be  Deputy  Governor,  and 
with  instructions  to  inform  the  European  inhabitants 
already  settled  there  of  the  change  in  government, 
promising  them  liberal  laws.  Markham  was  also  to 
convey  a  message  of  peace  to  the  Indians,  in  the  name 
of  their  new  "  proprietor."  He  was  soon  followed  by 
three  commissioners,  who  had  power  to  settle  the  colony, 
and  among  other  things,  to  lay  out  a  principal  city,  to  be 
the  capital  of  the  province,  which  William  Penn,  who 


368      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  directed  should 
be  called  Philadelphia — a  Greek  compound  signifying 
"  brotherly  love."  He  himself  arrived  on  the  great 
territory  of  which  he  was  sole  proprietor  in  1682,  and 
found  the  plans  of  the  city  and  province  to  his  satisfac- 
tion. He  at  once  convened  an  Assembly,  and  the  three 
counties  of  Philadelphia,  Bucks,  and  Chester  were 
created,  and  proper  laws  passed  for  their  government. 

In  less  than  two  years,  however,  Penn  was  obliged  to 
return  to  England,  and  shortly  after,  in  1692,  the  British 
Government  took  possession  of  the  colony,  and  placed 
it  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Governor  of  New  York. 
But  in  1694,  the  government  was  restored  to  Penn,  and 
Markham  was  again  made  Lieutenant-Governor.  Penn, 
himself,  did  not  return  to  America  until  1699.  He 
found  his  capital  very  considerably  improved.  Instead  of 
the  wilderness  he  had  left,  fifteen  years  before,  there  were 
streets,  houses,  elegant  stores,  warehouses,  and  ship- 
ping on  the  river.  The  population  was  estimated  at 
four  thousand  five  hundred  persons.  His  visit  was, 
however,  brief.  In  1701,  he  set  sail  again  for  England, 
intending  to  return  in  a  few  mouths,  but  this  intention 
was  never  carried  out.  In  1708,  his  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments were  so  great,  that  he  was  arrested  for  debt  in 
London,  and  thrown  into  the  Fleet  Prison,  where  he 
continued  for  nine  years.  In  1712  his  health  and  mind 
gave  way,  and  during  six  years  he  lingered  as  an  im- 
becile, childish  and  gentle  in  his  manners,  the  sad  wreck 
of  a  strong  mind.  He  died  in  July,  1718. 

The  government  of  Pennsylvania  was  administered 
for  a  time  by  his  widow,  and  subsequently  went  into  the 
hands  of  his  children  and  their  descendants,  as  propri- 
etors. They  usually  delegated  the  administration  to 


PHILADELPHIA.  369 

lieutenant-governors,  though  they  sometimes  exercised 
their  authority  in  person,  until  the  American  Revolution 
put  an  end  to  all  the  colonial  governments. 

The  history  of  Philadelphia  during  the  period  of  the 
Revolution  is  largely  connected  with  that  of  the  whole 
country.  At  a  large  meeting  held  in  the  State  House 
in  Philadelphia,  in  April,  1768,  it  was  resolved  to  cease 
all  importations  from  the  mother  country,  in  consequence 
of  the  exorbitant  taxes  levied  upon  them.  In  1773, 
the  British  East  India  Company  being  determined  to 
export  tea  to  America,  a  second  meeting  was  called  at 
the  State  House,  at  which  it  was  patriotically  resolved 
that  "  Parliament  had  no  right  to  tax  the  Americans, 
without  their  consent,"  and  that  "  any  one  who  would 
receive  or  sell  the  tea  sent  out  to  America  would  be 
denounced  as  an  enemy  to  his  country." 

The  ship  Polly,  Captain  Ryers,  was  to  bring  the  tea 
to  Philadelphia.  Handbills,  purporting  to  be  issued 
by  the  "committee  for  tarring  and  feathering,"  were 
printed  and  distributed  among  the  citizens.  They  were 
addressed  to  the  Delaware  pilots  and  to  Captain  Ryers 
himself,  warning  the  former  of  the  danger  they  would 
incur  if  they  piloted  the  tea  ship  up  the  river,  whilst 
Captain  Ryers  was  threatened  with  the  application  of 
tar  and  feathers  if  he  attempted  to  land  the  tea. 

Christmas  Day,  1773,  the  Polly  arrived.  A  commit- 
tee of  citizens  went  on  board,  told  Captain  Ryers  the 
danger  he  was  in,  and  requested  him  to  accompany  them 
to  the  State  House.  Here  the  largest  meeting  was 
assembled  that  had  ever  been  held  in  the  city.  This 
meeting  resolved  that  the  tea  on  board  the  Polly  should 
not  be  landed,  and  that  it  should  be  carried  back  to 
England  immediately.  The  captain  signified  his  wil- 


370      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

lingness  to  comply  with  the  resolution,  and  in  two  hours 
after,  the  Polly,  with  her  freight  of  tea,  hoisted  sail  and 
went  down  the  river. 

In  September,  1774,  the  first  Congress,  composed  of 
delegates  from  eleven  Colonies,  met  at  Carpenters' 
Hall,  on  Chestnut  street,  Philadelphia,  to  consider  the 
condition  of  the  Colonies,  in  their  relation  to  the  mother 
country.  This  Congress  resolved  that  all  importations 
from  Great  Britain  or  her  dependencies  should  cease. 
Committees  of  "  inspection  and  observation,"  were  ap- 
pointed, which  exercised  absolute  authority  to  punish  all 
persons  infringing  the  order  of  Congress. 

On  April  twenty-fourth,  1775,  news  of  the  battles  of 
Concord  and  Lexington  reached  the  city.  A  meeting 
was  immediately  called,  by  sound  of  gong  and  bell,  at 
the  State  House.  Eight  thousand  persons  assembled, 
who  resolved  that  they  would  "associate  together,  to 
defend  with  arms  their  property,  liberty  and  lives." 
Troops  were  at  once  raised,  forts  and  batteries  built  on 
the  Delaware,  floating  batteries,  gunboats  and  ships-of- 
war  constructed,  with  all  the  speed  possible,  and  a  chevaux 
de  frize  sunk  in  the  river,  to  prevent  the  passage  of 
British  ships.  In  May,  1776,  the  English  Frigate  Roe- 
buck, and  Sloop-of-war  Liverpool,  attempting  to  force 
their  way  up  the  river,  the  Americans  opened  fire  on 
them,  and  a  regular  naval  action  took  place.  The 
British  managed  to  escape,  and  retired  to  their  cruising 
ground,  at  the  entrance  of  the  bay. 

On  July  second,  1776,  Congress,  sitting  at  the  State 
House,  resolved  in  favor  of  the  severance  of  all  connec- 
tion between  the  American  Colonies  and  Great  Britain, 
and  independence  of  that  power.  On  July  third  and 
fourth,  the  form  of  the  declaration  of  independence  was 


OLD   INUKPBNUKNCE   HALL,   PHILADELPHIA 


PHILADELPHIA.  371 

debated,  and  adopted  on  the  latter  day.  July  eighth, 
the  Declaration  was  read  to  the  people  in  the  State 
House  yard,  and  received  with  acclamations,  and  evi- 
dences of  a  stern  determination  to  defend  their  inde- 
pendence with  their  lives.  The  King's  Arms  were  at 
once  torn  down  from  the  court  room  in  the  State  House, 
and  burned  by  the  people.  Bells  were  rung  and  bonfires 
lighted,  the  old  State  House  bell  fulfilling  the  command 
inscribed  upon  it,  when  it  was  cast,  twenty  years  before : 
"  Proclaim  Liberty  throughout  the  land,  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof." 

In  September,  1777,  the  British  army,  under  General 
Lord  Howe,  entered  Philadelphia.  October  fourth, 
Washington  attacked  it  at  Germantown,  and  although 
he  did  not  win  a  victory,  compelled  the  British  com- 
mander to  respect  him.  The  English  remained  in 
possession  of  the  city,  but  the  Americans  held  the  coun- 
try around.  The  Philadelphians  having  closed  the 
Delaware  by  the  chevaux  de  frize,  the  royal  army  was 
in  effect  hemmed  in  and  cut  off  from  communication 
with  the  British  fleet,  which  had  entered  the  Delaware, 
but  was  prevented  from  approaching  the  city  by  the 
American  forts  and  batteries.  It  had  brought  but  a 
moderate  supply  of  stores,  and  as  these  diminished,  the 
troops  suffered  from  scarcity  of  food. 

On  November  twenty-sixth,  British  frigates  and  trans- 
ports arrived  at  the  wharves  of  the  city,  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  royal  troops  and  of  the  inhabitants,  provisions 
having  become  very  scarce  and  famine  threatened.  Beef 
sold  at  five  dollars  a  pound,  and  potatoes  at  four  dollars 
a  bushel,  hard  money.  The  British  army  remained  in 
Philadelphia  until  June  eighteenth,  1778,  about  nine 
months  from  its  first  occupation  of  the  city.  During 


372      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

that  time  the  officers  gave  themselves  up  to  enjoyment. 
They  amused  themselves  with  the  theatre,  with  balls, 
parties,  cock-fights  and  gambling ;  and  a  grand  fete  was 
given  in  honor  of  their  commander,  Sir  Wm.  Howe. 
This  fete,  in  the  style  of  a  tournament  of  chivalry,  took 
place  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  and  while  it  was  in 
progress  the  Americans  in  considerable  force  made  an 
attack  upon  the  lines  north  of  the  city,  set  fire  to  the 
abattis,  and  brought  out  the  entire  body  of  the  royal 
troops  to  repel  the  attack. 

Upon  the  evacuation  of  the  city,  in  June,  General 
Benedict  Arnold  was  immediately  sent  with  a  small 
force  to  occupy  it.  He  remained  in  military  command 
for  several  months.  It  was  discovered  by  many  that 
he  had  become  largely  involved  in  certain  speculating 
transactions,  and  the  shame  of  the  discovery  stimulated 
the  traitorous  intentions  which  finally  carried  him  over 
to  the  British  army. 

After  the  inauguration  of  Washington  as  President 
of  the  new  republic,  it  was  determined  by  Congress  that 
Philadelphia  should  be  the  seat  of  the  United  States 
government  for  the  ensuing  ten  years,  after  which  it 
should  be  removed  to  Washington  City.  The  scheme 
of  the  Federal  Constitution  was  framed  and  adopted  in 
September,  1787,  by  the  Convention  sitting  at  the  State 
House,  with  George  Washington  as  President.  The 
final  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
of  America  was  celebrated  in  Philadelphia  on  the  Fourth 
of  July,  1788  by  a  magnificent  procession. 

The  principal  officers  of  Congress  removed  their  resi- 
dences to  Philadelphia  in  the  latter  part  of  1790.  At 
that  period  Washington  lived  in  Market  street  near 
Sixth,  in  a  plain  two-story  brick  house,  which  had  been 


PHILADELPHIA.  373 

the  residence  of  Lord  Howe  during  the  British  occupa- 
tion of  the  city.  The  locality  is  now  occupied,  if  I 
mistake  not,  by  the  mammoth  clothing  house  of  Wana- 
maker  &  Brown.  John  Adams,  Vice-President,  lived 
in  the  Hamilton  mansion  at  Bush  Hill;  and  Thomas 
Jefferson,  Secretary  of  State,  at  174  Market  street, 
between  Fourth  and  Fifth,  on  the  south  side.  Congress 
assembled  for  the  transaction  of  business  on  State  House 
Square. 

During  the  stay  of  the  Federal  government  in  Phila- 
delphia, Washington  and  Adams  were  inaugurated  as 
President  and  Vice  President  (March  fourth,  1797), 
in  the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

In  1793,  1797,  and  1798,  a  fearful  epidemic  of  the 
yellow  fever,  visited  Philadelphia  and  created  great 
alarm,  the  mortality  being  dreadful. 

The  removal  of  the  Federal  government  to  Washing- 
ton, in  1800,  deprived  Philadelphia  of  the  prominence 
she  had  enjoyed  as  the  Capital  of  the  nation.  In  the 
year  1808  steamboats  began  to  ply  regularly  on  the 
Delaware  River.  During  the  war  which  commenced  in 
1812  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
Philadelphia  maintained  her  loyalty,  and  fulfilled  her 
duty  to  the  country.  Several  volunteer  companies  were 
formed,  and  there  was  an  engagement  in  July,  1813, 
between  British  war  vessels  and  the  United  States 
gunboat  flotilla  on  the  Delaware,  in  which  the  Phila- 
delphians  proved  themselves  brave  and  patriotic. 

The  first  railroad,  running  from  Philadelphia  to 
German  town,  was  built  in  1832.  The  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  was  projected  in  1845,  and  chartered  in  the 
following  year. 

In  1834  a  spirit  of  riot  and  disorder  which  passed 


374      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

over  the  United  States,  reached  Philadelphia,  and  led 
to  disturbances  between  whites  and  blacks.  The  houses 
of  colored  people  were  broken  into,  a  meeting-house 
torn  down,  and  many  other  outrages  committed.  Again, 
in  1835  attacks  were  made  on  the  blacks,  and  houses 
burned.  In  1838  all  friends  of  the  abolition  of  slavery 
were  violently  attacked,  and  much  damage  done  to 
property  in  the  city. 

But  the  most  terrible  riots  which  Philadelphia  has 
known  occurred  in  1844.  A  meeting  of  the  Native 
American  party  was  attacked  and  dispersed.  The 
"Natives"  rallied  to  a  market  house  on  Washington 
street,  where  they  were  again  attacked,  and  fire-arms 
used  on  both  sides.  Houses  were  broken  into  and  set 
on  fire.  The  Roman  Catholic  churches  of  Saint 
Michael  and  Saint  Augustine,  and  a  female  Catholic 
seminary,  were  burned,  and  many  buildings  sacked  and 
destroyed.  All  the  Catholic  churches  were  in  great 
danger  of  sharing  the  same  fate.  A  large  number  of 
persons  were  killed  on  both  sides.  On  July  fourth,  of 
the  same  year,  the  Native  Americans  had  a  very  large 
and  showy  procession  through  the  streets  of  the  city. 
On  Sunday,  July  seventh,  the  church  of  Saint  Philip  de 
Neri,  in  Southwark,  was  broken  into  by  the  mob.  In 
clearing  the  streets,  the  soldiers  and  the  people  came 
into  collision.  The  former  fired  into  the  crowd,  and 
several  persons  were  killed,  and  others  wounded.  This 
occurrence  caused  intense  excitement.  The  soldiers 
were  attacked  with  cannon  and  with  musketry,  and  they 
responded  with  artillery  and  with  musketry.  The  rioters 
had  four  pieces,  which  were  worked  by  sailors.  The 
battle  continued  during  the  night  of  the  seventh  and  the 
morning  of  the  eighth  of  July.  Two  soldiers  were 


PHILADELPHIA.  375 

killed,  and  several  wounded.  Of  the  citizens  seven 
were  killed,  and  many  wounded.  This  was  the  most 
sanguinary  riot,  and  the  last  of  any  importance,  which 
ever  occurred  in  Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia  possesses  many  characteristic  features 
which  distinguish  her  from  her  sister  cities.  The  visitor 
will  be  at  first  struck  by  the  extreme  regularity  of  the 
streets,  and  the  look  of  primness  which  invests  them. 
They  are  laid  out  at  right  angles,  the  only  notable 
exceptions  being  those  roads,  now  dignified  by  the  name 
of  avenues,  which  usually  led  from  the  infant  city  into 
the  then  adjacent  country.  These  avenues,  of  which 
Passyuuk,  German  town  and  Ridge  are  the  principal 
ones,  are  irregular  in  their  course,  but  take  a  generally 
diagonal  direction ;  the  former  southwest,  and  the  two 
latter  northwest.  The  houses  are  mostly  of  brick,  with 
white  marble  facings  and  steps,  and  white  wooden 
shutters  to  the  first  story.  The  streets  running  east  and 
west,  frttn  the  Delaware  to  the  Schuylkill,  are,  in  the 
original  city,  with  few  exceptions  named  after  trees. 
Thus  Cedar,  Pine,  Spruce,  Locust,  Walnut,  Chestnut, 
Filbert,  ftTul  berry,  Cherry,  Sassafras  and  Vine.  Cedar 
became  South  street,  and  Sassafras  and  Mulberry  became 
Race  and  Arch,  the  latter  so  named  because  in  the  early 
days  of  the  city  Front  street  spanned  it  by  an  arch. 
Callowhill  street  was  originally  Gallowhill  street,  the 
word  indicating  its  derivation.  The  houses  on  these 
streets  are  numbered  from  the  Delaware,  beginning  a 
new  hundred  with  every  street.  Thus  all  houses  between 
Front  and  Second  streets  are  numbered  in  the  first  hun- 
dred, and  at  Second  street  a  new  hundred  begins ;  the 
even  numbers  being  on  the  northern  side,  and  the  odd 
ones  on  the  southern  side  of  the  street.  The  streets  run* 


376       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ning  parallel  to  the  river  are  numbered  from  the  river, 
beginning  with  Front,  then  Second,  Third,  and  so  on, 
until  the  furthest  western  limit  of  the  city  is  reached. 
Market  street,  originally  called  High  street,  runs  between 
Chestnut  and  Filbert,  dividing  the  city  into  north  and 
south.  The  houses  on  the  streets  crossing  Market  begin 
their  numbers  at  that  street,  running  both  north  and 
south,  each  street  representing  an  additional  hundred. 
With  this  naming  of  streets  and  numbering  of  houses, 
no  stranger  can  ever  lose  himself  in  Philadelphia.  The 
name  and  number  of  street  and  house  will  always  tell 
him  just  where  he  is.  Thus  if  he  finds  himself  at  836 
North  Sixth  street,  he  knows  he  is  eight  squares  north 
of  Market  street,  and  six  squares  west  of  the  Delaware 
River. 

The  original  city  was  bounded  by  the  Delaware  River 
on  the  east,  and  the  Schuylkill  on  the  west,  and  extended 
north  and  south  half  a  mile  on  either  side  of  Market 
street.  Even  before  the  present  century  it  had  outgrown 
its  original  limits  in  a  northerly  and  southerly  direction, 
and  a  number  of  suburbs  had  sprung  up  around  it,  each 
of  which  had  its  own  corporation.  The  names  of  these 
suburbs  were,  most  of  them,  borrowed  from  London. 
Southwark  faced  the  river  to  the  south  ;  Moyamensing 
was  just  west  of  Southwark ;  Spring  Garden,  Kensington, 
Northern  Liberties,  Germantown,  Roxborough,  and 
Frankford  were  on  the  north,  and  West  Philadelphia 
west  of  the  Schuylkill.  In  1854  these  suburbs,  so  long 
divided  from  the  "city"  merely  by  geographical  lines, 
were  incorporated  with  it ;  and  the  City  of  Philadelphia 
was  made  to  embrace  the  entire  county  of  Philadelphia 
— a  territory  twenty-three  miles  long,  with  an  area  of 
nearly  one  hundred  and  thirty  square  miles.  It  thus 


PHILADELPHIA.  377 

became  in  size  the  largest  city  in  the  country,  while  it 
stands  only  second  in  population. 

The  old  city  was  laid  out  with  great  economy  as  to 
space,  the  streets  being  as  narrow  as  though  land  were 
really  scarce  in  the  new  country  when  it  was  planned. 
Market  street  extends  from  the  Delaware  westward — a 
broad,  handsome  avenue,  occupied  principally  by  whole- 
sale stores.  It  is  indebted,  both  for  its  name  and  width, 
to  the  market  houses,  which  from  an  early  date  to  as 
late  as  1860,  if  not  later,  occupied  the  centre  of  the 
street;  long,  low,  unsightly  structures,  thronged  early 
in  the  morning,  and  especially  on  market  days,  with 
buyers  and  sellers,  while  market  wagons  lined  the  sides 
of  the  street.  The  same  kind  of  structures  still  occupy 
certain  localities  of  Second,  Callowhill,  Spring  Garden 
and  Bainbridge  streets.  But  those  in  Market  street 
have  disappeared,  and  substantial  and  handsome  market 
buildings  have  been  erected  on  or  near  the  street, 
instead  of  in  its  centre. 

A  century  ago  the  business  of  Philadelphia  was  con- 
fined principally  to  Front  street,  from  Walnut  to  Arch. 
Now  Second  street  presents  the  most  extended  length 
of  retail  stores  in  the  country,  and  business  has  spread 
both  north  and  south  almost  indefinitely,  and  is  fast 
creeping  westward.  Market  street  presents  a  double 
line  of  business  houses,  from  river  to  river.  Chestnut, 
the  fashionable  promenade  and  locality  of  the  finest 
hotels  and  retail  stores,  is  invaded  by  business  beyond 
Broad,  and  Arch  street  beyond  Tenth ;  while  Eighth 
street,  even  more  than  Chestnut  the  resort  of  shoppers, 
is,  for  many  squares,  built  up  by  large  and  handsome 
retail  stores.  Broad  street,  lying  between  Thirteenth 
and  Fifteenth,  is  the  handsomest  avenue  in  Philadel- 


378      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

phia.  It  is  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  feet  in  width,  and  contains  many  of  the 
finest  public  buildings  and  private  residences  in  the 
city.  Ridgway  Library,  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum, 
Horticultural  Hall,  Academy  of  Music,  Broad  Street 
Theatre,  Union  League  Club  House,  Masonic  Temple, 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  besides  some  of  the  most  elegant 
religious  edifices,  are  located  on  this  street. 

At  the  intersection  of  Broad  and  Market,  where  were 
once  four  little  squares  left  in  the  original  plan  of  the 
city,  and  known  as  Penn  Square,  are  being  constructed 
the  vast  Public  Buildings  of  the  city.  They  are  of 
white  marble,  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  and  one-half 
feet  long  by  four  hundred  and  seventy  feet  wide,  and 
four  stories  high,  covering  an  area  of  four  and  one-half 
acres,  not  including  a  large  court  in  the  centre.  The 
central  tower  will,  when  completed,  be  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  high,  and  the  total  cost  of  the  buildings  over  ten 
millions  of  dollars.  This  building  presents  a  most 
imposing  appearance,  whether  viewed  from  Market  or 
Broad  streets.  The  Masonic  Temple,  just  to  the  north, 
is  one  of  the  handsomest  of  its  kind  in  America.  It  is 
a  solid  granite  structure,  in  the  Norman  style,  most 
elaborately  ornamented,  and  with  a  tower  two  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  high.  Its  interior  is  finished  in  a  costly 
manner,  and  after  the  several  styles  of  architecture. 
The  Academy  of  Music  is  the  largest  opera  house  in 
America,  being  capable  of  seating  three  thousand 
persons. 

Third  street  is  the  banking  and  financial  centre  of 
Philadelphia;  on  Walnut  street  are  found  the  greatest 
proportion  of  insurance  offices  ;  South  street  is  the  cheap 
retail  street,  and  is  crowded  with  shoppers,  especially 


MASONIC  TEMPLE.  PHILADELPHIA. 


PHILADELPHIA.  379 

on  market  days,  and  the  Jews  reign  here  supreme.  Bain- 
bridge  street  (once  Shippen)  east  of  Broad  represents 
the  squalor  and  crime  of  the  city.  "  Old  clo' "  and 
second-hand  stores  of  all  descriptions  alternate  with  low 
drinking  places,  and  occupy  forlorn  and  tumble-down 
tenements.  All  races,  colors  and  sexes  mingle  here,  and 
the  man  who  sighs  for  missionary  work  need  go  no 
farther  than  this  quarter. 

Chestnut  street  is,  next  to  Broad,  the  handsomest  in 
the  city.  The  buildings  are  all  of  comparatively 
recent  construction,  and  are  many  of  them  handsome  and 
costly.  On  Market  street  the  past  century  still  mani- 
fests itself  in  quaint  houses  of  two  or  three  stories  in 
height,  sometimes  built  of  alternate  black  and  red 
bricks,  and  occasionally  with  queer  dormer  windows, 
wedged  in  between  more  stately  and  more  modern 
neighbors.  It  will  be  some  time  before  the  street 
becomes  thoroughly  modernized,  and  we  can  scarcely 
wish  that  it  may  become  so,  for  the  city  would  thus  lose 
much  of  its  quaint  interest. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  Philadelphia  which 
strikes  the  traveler  is  that  it  wears  an  old-tirne  air, 
far  more  than  Boston  or  New  York.  Boston  cannot 
straighten  her  originally  crooked  streets,  but  her  thought 
and  spirit  are  entirely  of  the  nineteenth  century.  New 
York  is  intensely  modern,  the  few  relics  of  the  past 
which  still  remain  contrasting  and  emphasizing  still 
more  strongly  the  life  and  bustle  and  business  of  to-day. 
Philadelphia  is  a  quiet  city.  Its  people  do  not  rush 
hither  and  thither,  as  though  but  one  day  remained  in 
which  to  accomplish  a  life  work.  They  take  time  to 
walk,  to  eat,  to  sleep,  and  to  attend  to  their  business. 
In  brief,  they  take  life  far  more  easily  and  slowly  than 


380      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

their  metropolitan  neighbors.  They  do  not  enter  into 
wild  speculative  schemes;  they  have  no  such  Stock 
Exchange,  where  bulls  and  bears  roar  and  paw  the 
ground,  or  where  they  may  make  or  lose  fortunes 
in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  eat  one's  dinner.  They  are 
steady,  plodding  people,  accumulating  handsome  for- 
tunes in  solid,  legitimate  ways.  There  is  little  of  the 
rustle  and  roar  of  the  elder  city;  save  for  the  continual 
ring  and  rattle  of  the  street  cars,  which  cross  the  city  in 
every  direction,  many  of  its  quarters  are  as  quiet  as  a 
country  village.  Its  early  Quaker  settlers  have  stamped 
it  with  the  quiet  and  placidity  which  is  the  leading 
trait  of  their  sect;  and  though  the  Quaker  garb  is  seen 
less  and  less  often  upon  the  streets,  the  early  stamp 
seems  to  have  been  indelible. 

Philadelphia  retains  more  of  the  old  customs,  old 
houses,  and,  perhaps,  old  laws,  than  any  other  city  in 
the  country.  The  Quaker  City  lawyer  carries  his  brief 
in  a  green  bag,  as  the  benches  of  the  Inner  Temple  used 
to  do  in  Penn's  time.  The  baker  cuts  a  tally  before  the 
door  each  morning,  just  as  the  old  English  baker  used 
to  do  three  centuries  ago.  After  a  death  has  occurred 
in  it,  a  house  is  put  into  mourning,  having  the  shutters 
bowed  and  tied  with  black  ribbon,  not  to  be  opened  for 
at  least  a  year.  There  are  laws  (seldom  executed,  it  is 
true,  but  still  upon  the  statute-books),  against  profanity 
and  Sabbath-breaking,  and  even  regulating  the  dress  of 
women. 

Some  of  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  bear  strongly  the 
marks  of  the  past.  Those,  especially,  near  the  river, 
which  were  built  up  in  the  early  days,  have  not  yet  been 
entirely  renovated;  while  some  ancient  buildings  of 
historic  interest  have  been  preserved  with  jealous  care. 


PHILADELPHIA.  381 

First  and  foremost  among  the  latter  is  Independence 
Hall,  occupying  the  square  upon  Chestnut  street  between 
Fifth  and  Sixth  streets — no  doubt,  considered  an  impos- 
ing edifice  at  the  time  of  its  erection,  but  now  over- 
shadowed by  the  business  palaces  which  surround  it. 
It  was  here  that  the  second  Colonial  Congress  met; 
here  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted  ; 
and  here  that  the  United  States  Congress  assembled, 
until  the  seat  of  the  General  Government  was  removed 
to  Washington,  in  1800.  In  Congress  Hall,  in  the 
second  story  of  this  building,  Washington  delivered  his 
Farewell  Address.  The  building  is  now  preserved  with 
great  care.  The  hall  where  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  signed  is  decorated  with  portraits  of  the 
signers,  and  contains,  among  other  objects  of  interest, 
the  bell  which  pealed  out  freedom  to  all. 

Next  in  historic  importance  is  Carpenters'  Hall, 
between  Third  and  Fourth  streets.  The  first  Conti- 
nental Congress  met  here,  and  here  the  first  words 
pointing  toward  a  collision  with  the  mother  country 
were  spoken  in  Philadelphia. 

When  William  Penn  made  his  first  visit  to  Philadel- 
phia, on  October  twenty-fourth,  1682,  he  set  foot  upon 
his  new  possessions  at  the  Blue  Anchor  Landing,  at  the 
mouth  of  Dock  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now 
the  corner  of  Front  and  Dock  streets.  Here  stood  the 
Blue  Anchor  Inn,  the  first  house  built  within  the 
ancient«limits  of  the  city.  Then,  and  long  afterwards, 
Dock  Creek  was  a  considerable  stream,  running  through 
the  heart  of  the  town.  But,  in  course  of  time,  the  water 
became  offensive,  from  the  drainage  of  the  city,  and  it 
was  finally  arched  over,  and  turned  into  a  sewer.  The 
winding  of  Dock  street  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 


382      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

it  follows  the  former  course  of  the  creek.  Sloops  once 
anchored  and  discharged  their  cargoes  where  now  stands 
Girard  Bank,  on  Third  street,  below  Chestnut. 

Between  Chestnut  and  Market  streets,  Second  and 
Front,  is  found  Letitia  Court,  where  still  stands  the 
first  brick  house  built  in  the  Province,  erected  for  the 
use  of  Penn  himself,  and  named  after  his  daughter 
Letitia.  He  directed  that  it  should  "  be  pitched  in  the 
middle  of  the  platt  of  the  town,  facing  the  harbor." 
The  bricks,  wooden  carvings  and  other  materials,  were 
imported  from  England.  At  the  time  of  its  construc- 
tion a  forest  swept  down  to  the  river  in  front,  forming 
a  natural  park,  where  deer  ranged  at  will.  Letitia 
House  is  now  a  lager  beer  saloon,  the  door  painted  with 
foaming  pots  of  beer.  It  is  no  longer  the  elegant 
country  mansion  of  the  lordly  proprietor,  but  simply 
No.  10,  Letitia  Court. 

The  old  Slate  Roof  House,  long  one  of  the  ancient 
landmarks,  on  Second  street  below  Chestnut,  the  resi- 
dence of  William  Penn  on  his  second  visit  to  this  coun- 
try, during  which  visit  John,  his  only  "  American"  son 
was  born,  and  where  other  noted  persons  lived  and  died, 
or  at  least  visited,  was  removed  in  1867,  to  make  room 
for  the  Commercial  Exchange. 

Not  far  off,  on  Second  street,  north  of  Market,  is 
Christ's  Church,  occupying  the  site  of  the  first  church 
erected  by  the  followers  of  Penn.  The  present  edifice 
was  begun  in  1727.  Washington's  coach  an/i  four 
used  to  draw  up  proudly  before  it  each  Sabbath,  and 
himself  and  Lady  Washington,  Lord  Howe,  Cornwallis, 
Benedict  Arnold,  Andre,  Benjamin  Franklin,  De  Chas- 
tellux,  the  Madisons,  the  Lees,  Patrick  Henry  and 
others  whose  names  have  become  incorporated  in 


PHILADELPHIA.  383 

American  history,  have  worshiped  here.  In  the  aisles 
are  buried  various  persons,  great  men  in  their  day,  but 
forgotten  now.  The  chime  of  bells  in  the  lofty  tower 
is  the  oldest  in  America,  and  were  cast  in  London.  This 
chime  joined  the  State  House  bell  on  that  memorable 
Fourth  of  J'uly,  when  the  latter  proclaimed  liberty 
throughout  the  laud.  Just  opposite  this  church  is  a 
small  street,  opening  into  Second  street,  its  eastern  end 
closed  by  a  tall  block  of  warehouses.  This  street  con- 
tained Stephen  Girard's  stores  and  houses. 

The  great  elm  tree,  at  Kensington,  under  which  Penn 
made  his  famous  treaty  with  the  Indians,  remained  until 
1800,  when  it  was  blown  down.  An  insignificant  stone 
now  marks  the  spot,  being  inclosed  by  a  fence,  and 
surrounded  by  stone  and  lumber  yards.  An  elm  over- 
shadows it — possibly,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  historic 
tree. 

There  is  an  older  religious  edifice  in  Philadelphia 
than  Christ's  Church.  It  is  the  old  Swedes'  Church, 
erected  in  1697,  not  far  from  Front  and  Christian 
streets,  by  early  Swedish  missionaries.  Though  insig- 
nificant, compared  with  modern  churches,  it  was  regarded 
as  a  magnificent  structure  by  the  Quakers,  Swedes  and 
Indians,  who  first  beheld  it.  The  inside  carvings,  bell 
and  communion  service,  were  a  gift  of  the  Swedish  king. 
In  the  graveyard  which  surrounds  it  are  found  the  dead 
of  nearly  two  centuries  ago,  some  of  the  slate-stones  over 
the  older  graves  having  been  imported  from  the  mother 
country.  Here  sleeps  Sven  Schute  and  his  descendants, 
once,  under  Swedish  dominion,  lords  of  all  the  land  on 
which  Philadelphia  now  stands.  None  of  his  name 
now  lives.  Here  lie  buried,  forgotten,  Bengtossens, 
Peterssens,  and  Bonds.  Wilson,  the  ornithologist,  was 


384      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

a  frequent  attendant  at  this  church,  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  he  lies  in  the  church  yard,  having  been 
buried  there  by  his  own  request,  as  it  was  "  a  silent, 
shady  place,  where  the  birds  would  be  apt  to  come  and 
sing  over  his  grave."  The  English  sparrows  have  built 
their  nests  above  it. 

An  ancient  house  possessing  special  historic  interest 
stands  on  Front  street,  a  few  doors  above  Dock. 
It  is  built  of  glazed  black  bricks,  with  a  hipped  roof, 
and,  though  it  was  a  place  of  note  in  its  day,  occupied 
by  one  generation  after  another  of  the  ruling  Quakers,  it 
has  now  degenerated  into  a  workingmen's  coffee-house. 
To  it  the  Friends  conducted  Franklin  on  his  return  from 
England.  War  was  not  yet  declared,  but  there  were 
mutteriugs  in  the  distance;  all  awaited  Franklin's  coun- 
sels, sitting  silently,  as  is  their  wont,  waiting  for  the 
spirit  to  move  to  utterance,  when  Franklin  stood  up 
and  cried  out :  "  To  arms,  my  friends,  to  arms  ! " 

Franklin  has  left  many  associations  in  the  city  of  his 
adoption.  As  a  boy  of  seventeen  he  trudged  up  High, 
now  Market  street,  munching  one  roll,  with  another 
under  his  arm,  friendless  and  unknown.  Even  his 
future  wife  smiled  in  ridicule  as  he  passed  by.  To-day 
statues  are  erected  to  his  memory,  and  institutions 
named  after  him.  The  Philadelphia  Library,  the 
oldest  and  richest  in  the  city,  claims  him  as  one  of  its 
original  founders.  In  1729,  the  Junto,  a  little  associa- 
tion of  tradesmen  of  which  Franklin  was  a  member, 
used  to  meet  in  the  chamber  of  a  little  house  in  Pewter- 
platter  alley,  to  exchange  their  books.  Franklin  sug- 
gested that  there  should  be  a  small  annual  subscription, 
in  order  to  increase  the  stock.  To-day  the  library 
contains  many  thousand  volumes,  with  many  rare  and 


PHILADELPHIA.  385 

valuable  manuscripts  and  pamphlets.  This  library 
contains  Penn's  desk  and  clock,  John  Penn's  cabinet, 
and  a  colossal  bust  of  Minerva  which  overlooked  the 
deliberations  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In  an  old 
graveyard  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and  Arch,  a  section  of 
iron  railing  in  the  stone  wall  which  surrounds  it 
permits  the  passer  to  view  the  plain  marble  slab  which 
covers  the  remains  of  Franklin  and  his  wife. 

Speaking  of  libraries,  the  Apprentices'  Library,  on 
the  opposite  corner  of  Fifth  and  Arch,  overlooks 
Franklin's  grave.  It  was  established  by  the  Quakers, 
and  dates  back  to  1783.  The  apprentice  system  has 
died  out,  and  the  library  is  almost  forgotten. 

As  late  as  1876,  stood  the  old  Quaker  Almshouse,  on 
Willings  alley,  between  Third  and  Fourth  streets,  of 
which  Longfellow  speaks,  as  follows,  in  his  poem, 
"Evangeline" : — 

"Then  in  the  suburbs  it  stood,  in  the  midst  of  meadows  and 

woodlands ; — 

Now  the  city  surrounds  it ;  but  still  with  its  gateway  and  wicket, 
Meek  in  the  midst  of  splendor,  its  humble  walls  seem  to  echo 
Softly  the  words  of  the  Lord :    '  The  poor  ye  always  have  with 

you.'  " 

Here  Evangeline  came  when  the  pestilence  fell  on  the 
city,  when — 

"Distant  and  soft  on  her  ear  fell  the  chimes  from  the  belfry  of 

Christ  Church, 

While  intermingled  with  these,  across  the  meadows  were  wafted 
Sounds  of  psalms  that  were  sung  by  the  Swedes  in  their  church  at 

Wicaco." 

And  here  Evangeline  found  Gabriel.  The  ancient 
building  is  now  leveled,  and  only  the  poem  remains. 

Germantown,  now  incorporated  in  Philadelphia,  is 
rich  in  historic  associations.  Stenton,  a  country  seal 

25 


386      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

near  Germantown,  was  for  generations  the  centre  of  the 
social  life  of  the  Quakers.  It  was  built  in  1731,  by  James 
Logan,  and  was  finished  with  secret  passages  and 
underground  ways,  to  be  used  in  case  of  attack  by 
Indians  and  others.  The  Chew  House  at  Germantown 
was,  during  the  Revolution,  used  by  Colonel  Musgrove 
and  six  companies,  for  a  long  time.  The  old  Johnson 
House  had  its  hall  door,  which  is  still  preserved, 
riddled  by  cannon.  In  many  private  lawns  and 
gardens  of  that  suburb  royalists  and  rebels  sleep  peace- 
fully side  by  side.  A  house,  now  quaint  in  its 
ancientness,  at  the  corner  of  Main  street  and  West 
Walnut  lane,  was  used  during  the  Revolution  as  a 
hospital  and  amputating  room.  The  old  Wistar  House, 
built  in  1744,  played  a  part  in  the  events  of  the  last 
century,  and  contains  furniture  which  once  belonged  to 
Franklin  and  Count  Zinzendorf.  There  is  a  room 
filled  with  relics  of  early  times. 

In  1755  the  corner  stone  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital 
was  laid.  This  corner  stone  having  been  recently 
uncovered,  in  making  alterations  to  the  building,  the 
following  inscription,  of  which  Franklin  was  the  author, 
was  discovered :  "  In  the  Year  of  Christ,  MDCCLV, 
George  the  Second  happily  reigning  (for  he  sought  the 
happiness  of  his  people) — Philadelphia  flourishing  (for 
its  inhabitants  were  public  spirited) — This  Building, 
By  the  Bounty  of  the  Government,  and  of  many  private 
persons,  was  piously  founded  For  the  Relief  of  the  Sick 
and  Miserable.  May  the  God  of  Mercies  Bless  the 
undertaking ! " 

A  noticeable  and  commendable  feature  of  Philadel- 
phia is  its  many  workingmen's  homes.  In  New  York 
the  middle  classes,  whose  incomes  are  but  moderate,  are 


PHILADELPHIA.  387 

compelled  to  seek  residences  in  cheap  flats  and  tenement 
houses,  or  else  go  into  the  country,  at  the  daily  expense 
of  car  or  ferry  rides.  But  in  Philadelphia  flats  are 
unknown,  and  tenement  life — several  families  crowded 
under  a  single  roof — confined  almost  entirely  to  the 
more  wretched  quarters  of  the  city.  There  are  streets 
upon  streets  of  comfortable  and  neat  dwellings,  marble- 
faced  and  marble-stepped,  with  their  prim  white  shutters, 
two  or  three  stories  in  height,  and  containing  from  six 
to  nine  rooms,  with  all  the  conveniences  of  gas,  bath-room 
and  water,  which  are  either  rented  at  moderate  rates  or 
owned  outright  by  single  families,  who  may  possibly 
rent  out  a  room  or  two  to  lodgers.  Philadelphia  may 
have  less  elegant  public  and  business  edifices  than  New 
York,  but  her  dwelling  houses  stand  as  far  more  desir- 
able monuments  to  the  prosperity  of  a  people  than  the 
splendor  united  with  the  squalor  of  the  metropolis. 

The  manufactures  of  Philadelphia  furnish  the  foun- 
dation of  her  prosperity.  Her  iron  foundries  produce 
more  than  one-third  of  the  manufactured  iron  of  the 
country,  and  number  among  them  some  of  the  largest 
in  America.  The  Port  Richmond  Iron  Works  of  I.  P. 
Morris  &  Company  cover,  with  their  various  buildings, 
five  acres  of  ground.  The  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works, 
on  Broad  street,  founded  in  1831,  employ  a  large  force  of 
men.  It  takes  eighteen  hundred  men  one  day  to  com- 
plete and  make  ready  for  service  a  single  locomotive ; 
yet  these  works  turn  out  three  hundred  locomotives  a 
year.  Some  of  the  largest  men-of-war  in  the  world 
have  also  been  built  at  the  navy  yards  in  Philadel- 
phia and  League  Island.  Among  them  is  the  old 
Pennsylvania,  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  guns, 
Besides  her  iron  works  there  are  many  mills  and  i'acto- 


388      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ries.  Miles  of  carpet,  of  superior  quality,  are  woven 
every  day,  besides  immense  quantities  of  other  woolen 
and  cotton  goods  and  shoes.  Her  retail  stores,  taken  as 
a  whole,  will  not  compare  in  size  and  elegance  with 
those  of  New  York,  though  there  are  two  or  three 
exceptions  to  this  rule. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  is  at 
Philadelphia,  and  there  is  a  grand  depot  on  Broad 
street,  near  Market,  which  is  palatial  in  its  appoint- 
ments. 

Of  her  places  of  amusement,  the  Academy  of  Music 
ranks  first  in  size.  There  are  numerous  theatres,  among 
which  the  Walnut  Street  Theatre  is  the  oldest,  and  the 
Arch  Street  Theatre  the  most  elegantly  finished  and 
furnished,  and  the  best  managed.  With  these  and  other 
places  of  amusement,  are  associated  the  names  of  all 
the  prominent  musicians,  actors  and  actresses  of  the  past 
and  present.  The  Academy  of  Music  was  not  built 
when  Jenny  Lind  visited  this  country,  but  it  was  ready 
for  occupancy  only  a  few  years  later ;  and  has  witnessed 
the  triumphs  of  many  a  prima  donna,  now  forgotten  by 
the  public,  which  then  worshiped  her.  Forrest  began 
his  theatrical  career  in  Philadelphia;  and  the  names 
of  noted  tragedians  and  comedians  who  have  come  and 
gone  upon  her  boards  are  legion. 

Of  churches  Philadelphia  has  many,  and  beautiful 
ones.  On  three  corners  of  Broad  and  Arch  streets  tall 
and  slender  spires  point  heavenward,  rising  from  three 
of  the  most  costly  churches  in  the  city.  Surpassing 
them  all,  however,  is  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  of 
Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  on  Logan  Square.  It  is  of 
red  sandstone,  in  the  Roman  Corinthian  style,  sur- 
mounted by  a  dome  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  high. 


PHILADELPHIA.  389 

The  interior  is  cruciform  and  richly  frescoed.  The  altar 
piece  is  by  Brumidi. 

Also,  fronting .  on  Logan  Square,  at  the  corner  of 
Nineteenth  and  Race  streets,  is  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  containing  a  library  of  twenty-six  thousand 
volumes,  and  most  extensive,  valuable  and  interesting 
collections  in  zoology,  ornithology,  geology,  mineralogy, 
conchology,  ethnology,  archaeology  and  botany.  The 
museum  contains  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
specimens,  and  Agassiz  pronounced  it  one  of  the  finest 
natural  science  collections  in  the  world.  It  also  con- 
tains a  perfect  skeleton  of  a  whale,  a  complete  ancient 
saurian,  twenty-five  feet  long,  and  the  fossil  remains  of  a 
second  saurian  so  much  larger  than  the  first  that  it  fed 
upon  it. 

Franklin  Institute  is  devoted  to  science  and  the  me- 
chanical arts,  and  contains  a  library  of  fifteen  thousand 
volumes.  The  Mercantile  Library  occupies  a  stately 
edifice,  on  Tenth  street  below  Market,  and  contains  over 
fifty  thousand  volumes,  exclusive  of  periodicals  and 
papers.  On  an  average,  five  hundred  books  are  loaned 
daily,  from  this  institution. 

The  newspapers  of  Philadelphia  rank  second  only  to 
those  of  New  York.  The  Ledger  has  a  magnificent 
building  at  the  corner  of  Sixth  and  Chestnut,  complete 
in  all  its  appointments,  from  engine  rooms,  in  the  base- 
ment, to  type-setting  rooms  in  the  top  story.  The  Times 
building,  at  the  corner  of  Eighth  and  Chestnut,  is  also 
very  fine.  The  Public  Record  building,  newly  finished, 
on  Chestnut  street  above  Ninth,  near  the  new  Post  Office, 
surpasses  all  others.  It  represents  the  profits  of  a  daily 
penny  paper,  giving  news  in  a  condensed  form,  to  meet 
the  wants  of  a  working  and  busy  public. 


390      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Philadelphia  once  represented  the  literary  centre  of 
the  country.  It  took  the  lead  in  periodic  literature 
half  a  century  ago,  and  claimed,  as  residents,  some  of  the 
most  brilliant  novelists,  essayists  and  poets  of  the  day. 
But  the  glory  of  that  age  has  departed.  The  Continent, 
a  weekly  magazine  recently  established,  sought  to  revive 
the  prestige  of  the  city,  but  soon  removed  to  New  York. 

The  Medical  Colleges  of  Philadelphia  have  long 
stood  in  the  front  rank,  and  have  attracted  students  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  A  Woman's  Medical  College 
is  in  successful  operation,  with  a  fine  hospital  connected 
with  it. 

Philadelphia  has  an  educational  system  embracing 
schools  of  different  grades,  and  a  High  School.  But  it 
pays  its  teachers  less  salaries  than  most  of  the  other 
cities,  and  the  standard  of  the  schools  is  not  so  high  as 
it  should  be,  in  consequence.  Girard  College  should  not 
be  overlooked,  while  speaking  of  educational  institu- 
tions. Architecturally,  it  is  a  magnificent  marble  build- 
ing, in  Grecian  style.  It  is  located  near  the  Schuylkill 
River,  on  Girard  avenue.  When  Girard  selected  the 
location  for  his  proposed  college,  it  was  so  far  out  in  the 
country,  that  he  never  thought  the  city  would  creep  up 
to  it.  But  to-day  the  college  is  inclosed  by  it,  and  its 
high  stone  walls  block  many  a  street,  to  the  inconveni- 
ence of  the  people  of  the  neighborhood.  It  was  estab- 
lished for  the  practical  education  of  orphan  boys,  and 
one  of  the  provisions  of  its  founder — himself  a  free 
thinker — was,  that  no  religious  instruction  should  be 
•imparted  to  the  pupils,  and  no  clergyman  be  permitted 
to  enter  its  doors ;  a  provision  which  is  widely  inter- 
preted, to  the  effect  that  no  sectarian  bias  is  given  in  the 
college. 


PHILADELPHIA.  391 

The  United  States  Mint,  located  on  Chestnut  street, 
above  Thirteenth,  is  copied  from  a  Grecian  temple  at 
Athens.  It  contains  a  very  valuable  collection  of  coins, 
embracing  those  of  almost  every  period  of  the  world 
and  every  nation.  The  Custom  House  is  an  imitation 
of  the  Pantheon  at  Athens.  The  new  Post  Office  is  on 
Ninth  street,  extending  from  Chestnut  to  Market.  It 
is  a  spacious  granite  structure,  in  the  Renaissance  style, 
four  stories  in  height,  with  an  iron  dome,  and  when 
completed  will  cost  about  four  millions  of  dollars. 

On  the  opposite  corner  from  the  Post  Office  is  the 
Continentel  Hotel,  a  spacious  structure  which,  when 
erected,  was  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  It  is 
now  exceeded  in  size  by  several  other  hotels  in  other 
cities,  but  it  is  noted  for  the  elegance  and  excellence  of 
the  entertainment  it  offers  its  guests.  Girard  Hotel  is 
immediately  opposite,  and  ranks  second  only  to  the 
Continental. 

The  Eastern  Penitentiary  is  on  Fairmount  avenue,  on 
what  was  once  known  as  Cherry  Hill.  In  it  is  practiced 
the  plan  of  solitary  confinement  for  prisoners.  When 
Dickens  paid  his  first  visit  to  America,  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  he  visited  this  prison,  and  was  so  moved  to 
pity  by  the  solitude  of  its  inmates,  that  he  wrote  a  touch- 
ing account  of  one  of  the  prisoners,  in  whom  he  was 
especially  interested.  But  this  very  prisoner,  when  he 
was  set  at  liberty,  soon  committed  another  crime  which 
sent  him  back  to  his  silent  and  solitary  cell,  and  every 
subsequent  release  was  followed  by  a  subsequent  crime 
and  subsequent  imprisonment.  Finally,  when  Dickens 
had  been  in  his  grave  for  years,  the  old  man,  still  hale 
and  hearty,  but  bearing  the  marks  of  age,  was  once 
more  set  free.  Attention  was  attracted  to  him  by  the 


392      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

newspapers,  as  having  been  the  prison  hero  of  Dickens. 
The  public  became  interested  in  him,  and  an  effort  was 
made  to  place  him  beyond  the  temptation  of  crime,  so 
that  he  might  go  down  to  his  grave  a  free  man.  But 
before  many  months  had  elapsed,  life  in  the  outer  world 
became  irksome  to  him,  and  he  returned,  by  his  well- 
beaten  path,  back  to  the  penitentiary.  He  was  very 
proud  of  the  notice  which  Dickens  had  bestowed  upon 
him,  and  it  seemed  to  more  than  compensate  for  the  loss 
of  his  liberty. 

When  Penn  visited  Philadelphia,  in  its  infant  days, 
he  wished  to  preserve  the  bluff  overlooking  the  Dela- 
ware, to  be  forever  used  as  a  public  park  and  promenade. 
But  the  traffic  of  Front  street  now  rattles  where  he 
would  have  had  green  trees  and  grass.  Philadelphia 
has  no  pleasant  outlook  upon  the  river,  to  correspond 
with  the  Battery  of  New  York.  The  wharves  are  lined 
with  craft  of  every  description,  and  the  flags  of  many 
nations  are  to  be  seen  in  her  harbor;  but  commerce 
creeps  down  to  the  very  shores,  and  Delaware  avenue, 
which  faces  the  river,  is  dirty  and  crowded  with  traffic. 
Seen  from  the  river  the  city  makes  a  pleasing  outline 
against  the  sky,  with  its  many  spires  and  domes.  Smith's 
Island  and  Windmill  Island  lie  opposite  the  city,  a 
short  distance  away,  and  Camden  is  on  the  New  Jersey 
shore.  Ferry  boats  continually  ply  across  the  Delaware, 
carrying  to  and  fro  the  travelers  of  a  continent. 

Philadelphia  is  not  without  its  public  breathing  places, 
where  the  residents  of  its  narrow  streets  may  enjoy  fine 
trees  and  green  grass.  When  the  city  was  first  planned, 
four  squares,  of  about  seven  acres  each,  were  reserved  in 
its  four  quarters,  two  each  side  of  Market  street,  and  are 
now  known  as  Washington,  Franklin,  Logan  and  Kit- 


PHILADELPHIA.  393 

tollhouse  Squares.  Washington  Square  is  at  Sixtli  and 
Walnut,  and  was  once  a  Potters'  Field.  Many  soldiers, 
victims  of  the  smallpox  and  camp  fever,  were  buried 
there  during  the  Revolution.  Franklin  Square,  at  Sixth 
and  Race  was  also  once  a  burying,  ground.  A  fountain 
now  occupies  its  centre.  At  Eighteenth  and  Race  is 
Logan  Square,  where  in  1864  was  held  the  great  Sani- 
tary Fair.  The  entire  square  was  roofed  over  and 
boarded  up,  the  trunks  of  the  trees  standing  as  pillars  in 
the  aisles  of  the  large  building.  Its  companion,  Ritten- 
house  Square,  at  Eighteenth  and  Walnut  streets,  is  the 
centre  of  the  aristocratic  quarter  of  the  city.  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  most  elegant  mansions  and  costly  churches. 
Independence  Square  lies  back  of  Independence  Hall. 

There  are  a  few  other  smaller  and  newer  squares 
scattered  throughout  the  city,  but  its  great  pride  is 
Fairmount  Park,  which  is  unsurpassed  in  its  natural 
advantages  by  any  park  in  the  world.  This  park  con- 
tains nearly  three  thousand  acres,  embracing  eleven 
miles  in  length  along  the  Schuylkill  and  Wissahickon 
rivers.  The  nucleus  of  this  park  was  the  waterworks 
and  reservoir,  the  former  situated  on  the  Schuylkill,  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  city,  and  the  latter  on  a 
natural  elevation  close  by,  from  which  the  entire  park 
takes  its  name,  while  a  small  tract  of  land  between  the 
two  was  included  in  the  original  park.  There  was  added 
the  beautiful  estate  of  Lemon  Hill,  once  the  country 
seat  of  Robert  Morris,  with  the  strip  along  the  Schuylkill 
which  led  to  it.  In  course  of  time  Egglesfield,  Belmont, 
Lansdowne  and  George's  Hill,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  were  added,  either  by  gift  or  purchase,  and  eventu- 
ally the  tract  of  land  on  the  eastern  bank,  extending 
from  Lemon  Hill  to  the  Wissahickon,  and  along  both 


394        PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

banks  of  the  latter  as  far  as  Chestnut  Hill.  This  park, 
besides  the  beautiful  river  and  romantic  stream  which  it 
incloses,  includes  hills  and  valleys,  charming  ravines 
and  picturesque  rocks. 

While  the  city  has  gained  much,  the  true  lover  of 
nature  has  lost  something,  by  the  conversion  of  this  tract 
of  land  into  a  park.  While  it  was  still  private  property, 
nature  was  at  her  loveliest.  Wild  flowers  blossomed 
in  the  dells,  and  little  streams  gurgled  and  tumbled  over 
stones  down  the  ravines,  while  vines  and  foliage  softened 
the  rugged  outlines  of  the  rocky  hillsides.  But  the 
landscape  gardener  has  been  there.  The  dells  are 
converted  into  gentle  slopes ;  the  wild  flowers  and  ferns 
which  beautified  them  have  given  place  to  green  sward ; 
one  of  the  prettiest  of  the  brooks  has  been  converted  into 
a  sewer  and  covered  over.  The  Wissahickon,  once  the 
most  delightful  of  wild  and  wayward  streams,  is  now,  for 
a  considerable  part  of  its  way,  imprisoned  between  banks 
as  straight  and  un picturesque  as  those  of  a  canal.  The 
pretty  country  lanes  have  been  obliterated,  and  the  trees 
which  overshadowed  them  have  disappeared.  Primness 
and  stableness  is  now  the  rule.  Art  has  sought  to  im- 
prove nature,  and  has  almost  obliterated  it,  instead.  Yet 
even  the  landscape  gardener  cannot  succeed  in  making 
the  Schuylkill  entirely  unattractive ;  and  velvet  turf 
and  trees  waving  in  the  wind,  even  though  the  latter  be 
pruned  into  a  tiresome  regularity,  are  always  more 
grateful  than  the  cobble  stones  and  brick  pavements  of 
the  city  streets,  and  thousands  every  day  seek  rest  or 
recreation  at  Fairmount. 

Belmont  Mansion  is  now  a  restaurant.  Solitude,  a 
villa  built  in  1785  by  John  Penn,  grandson  of  William 
Penn,  and  the  cottage  of  .Tom  Moore,  not  far  from 


PHILADELPHIA.  395 

Belmont  where  he  spent  some  months  during  his  visit 
to  America,  are  among  the  attractions  of  the  park. 

The  Zoological  Gardens  are  included  in  the  park,  and 
are  situated  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Schuylkill, 
opposite  Lemon  Hill.  Here  is  found  the  finest  collection 
of  European  and  American  animals  in  America,  and  the 
daily  concourse  of  visitors  is  very  great.  The  several 
bridges  which  span  the  Schuylkill  are  very  picturesque. 
In  the  winter,  when  the  river  at  Fairmount,  above  the 
dam,  is  frozen  over,  the  ice  is  covered  with  skaters,  and 
the  bank  is  thronged  with  spectators. 

Laurel  Hill,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  cemeteries  of 
the  country,  adjoins  Fairmount  Park,  and  is  inclosed  by 
it,  seeming  to  make  it  a  part  of  the  park.  Mount 
Vernon  Cemetery  is  nearly  opposite  Woodlands,  in  West 
Philadelphia,  and  contains  the  Drexel  Mausoleum,  the 
costliest  in  America. 

Fairmount  was  the  site  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition 
in  1876,  and  numerous  and  costly  buildings  were  erected 
there.  Of  these  many  were  removed  at  once  at  the 
close  of  the  Exhibition.  The  main  building,  a  mammoth 
structure,  covering  eleven  acres,  was  retained  for  several 
years  for  a  permanent  exhibition  building,  but  was 
removed  in  1883.  Memorial  Hall,  erected  by  the  State,, 
at  a  cost  of  $1,500,000,  standing  on  an  elevated  terrace 
between  George's  Hill  and  the  river,  and  used  as  an  art 
gallery  during  the  Exhibition,  still  remains,  and  is 
designed  for  a  permanent  art  and  industrial  collection. 
Xorth  of  Memorial  Hall  stands  the  Horticultural 
Building,  a  picturesque  structure,  in.  the  Mooresque 
style.  It  is  a  conservatory,  filled  with  tropical  and 
other  plants,  and  is  surrounded  by  thirty-five  acres 
devoted  to  horticultural  purposes. 


396      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

In  October,  1882,  Philadelphia  celebrated  her  Bi-cen- 
tennial,  and  commemorated  the  landing  of  Penn,  who 
first  stepped  upon  her  shores  two  hundred  years  before. 
This  Bi-centennial  lasted  for  three  days,  which  were 
celebrated,  the  first  as  "  Lauding  Day,"  the  second  as 
"  Trades'  Day,"  and  the  third  as  "  Festival  Day."  On  the 
first  day,  October  twenty-fourth,  the  State  House  bell 
rang  two  hundred  times,  and  the  chimes  of  the  churches 
were  rung.  The  ship  Welcome,  which  two  hundred 
years  before  had  conveyed  Penn  to  our  shores,  made  a 
second  arrival,  and  a  mimic  Penn  again  visited  the  Blue 
Anchor,  still  standing  to  receive  him,  held  treaty  with 
the  Indians,  and  then  paraded  through  the  city,  followed 
byfa  large  and  brilliant  procession,  which  presented  the 
harmless  anachronism  of  the  Proprietor  of  two  hundred 
years  ago  hob-nobbing  with  the  city  officials  and  others 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  On  the  second  day  the  dif- 
ferent trades  and  manufacturing  interests  made  a  great 
display.  In  the  evening'  Pennsylvania  history  was 
represented  by  ten  tableaux ;  eleven  tableaux  presented 
the  illustrious  women  of  history ;  and  ten  tableaux  gave 
the  principal  scenes  in  the  Romayana,  the  great  poem  of 
India.  The  display  of  this  night  pageant  was  gorgeous 
and  beautiful  beyond  anything  ever  before  seen  in  this 
country.  On  the  third  day  the  morning  was  devoted 
to  a  parade  of  Knights  Templar,  and  the  evening  to  a 
reception  at  the  Academy  of  Music  and  Horticultural 
Hall.  A  musical  festival  was  held  during  the  day ; 
also  a  naval  regatta  upon  the  Schuylkill,  a  bicycle  meet 
at  Fairmount,  and  archery  contests  at  Agricultural  Hall. 
During  the  entire  three  days  Philadelphia  held  holiday. 
Her  streets  and  pavements  were  crowded  with  throngs 
of  people  from  the  country,  and  elevated  seats  along 


PHILADELPHIA.  397 

the  principal  streets  were  constantly  filled,  at  high 
prices. 

If  William  Penn  could  really,  in  person,  have  stepped 
upon  the  scene,  and  beheld  the  city  of  his  planning  as 
it  is  to-day,  he  would  undoubtedly  be  astonished  beyond 
expression.  In  magnitude  it  must  exceed  his  wildest 
dreams;  in  commercial  and  manufacturing  enterprises 
its  progress  reads  like  some  fable  of  the  east.  He  would 
look  almost  in  vain  for  his  country  residence  upon  the 
Delaware,  once  surrounded  by  noble  forests,  and  we  fear 
he  would  scorn  the  Blue  Anchor  and  all  its  present 
associations.  Time  works  wonders.  Nearly  a  million 
people  now  find  their  homes  where,  in  1683,  one  year 
after  Penn's  arrival,  there  were  but  one  hundred  houses. 
In  1684  the  population  of  Philadelphia  was  estimated  at 
2,500.  In  1800  it  had  increased  to  41,220.  In  1850  it 
was  121,376.  From  this  period  to  1860,  its  growth  was 
almost  marvelous,  at  the  latter  period  its  inhabitants 
numbering  565,529.  The  census  of  1880  gave  it  a 
population  of  846,984. 

The  residents  of  Philadelphia  include  every  nation- 
ality and  class  of  people.  The  Quakers  are  in  a  small 
minority,  though  they  have  done  much  to  mould  the 
character  of  the  city.  Irish  and  Germans  predominate 
among  foreigners.  Italians,  French,  Spanish,  and 
Chinese  are  not  so  numerous  as  in  New  York.  The 
society  of  the  Quaker  City  bears  the  reputation  of  great 
exclusiveness.  While  culture  will  admit  to  the  charmed 
circle  in  Boston,  and  money  buys  a  ready  passport  to 
social  recognition  in  New  York,  in  Philadelphia  the 
door  is  closed  to  all  pretensions  except  those  of  family. 
Boston  asks  "  How  much  do  you  know  ?"  New  York, 


398      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

"  How  much  are  you  worth  ?"  but  in  Philadelphia  the 
question  is,  "  Who  was  your  grandfather  ?" 

Philadelphia  ranks  fourth  in  commerce  among  the 
cities  of  the  Union.  As  a  manufacturing  city  it  occupies 
the  very  front  rank.  With  the  inexhaustible  coal  and 
iron  fields  of  Pennsylvania  at  its  back,  her  manufactur- 
ing interests  are  certain  to  grow  in  extent  and  importance, 
maintaining  the  ascendency  they  have  already  gained. 
Its  prosperity  has  a  firm  basis.  Like  all  large  cities, 
there  is  squalor,  misery  and  crime  within  its  borders ; 
but  the  proportion  is  smaller  than  in  some  other  cities, 
and  the  aggregate  amount  of  domestic  content,  owing  to 
its  many  comfortable  homes,  much  greater.  Thus 
Philadelphia  offers  an  example,  in  more  than  one  direc- 
tion, which  might  be  emulated  by  her  sister  cities.  What 
she  will  have  become  when  her  tri-centennial  comes 
around,  who  shall  dare  to  predict  ? 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

PROVIDENCE. 

Origin  of  the  City. — Roger  Williams. — Geographical  Location  and 
Importance. — Topography  of  Providence. — The  Cove. — Railroad 
Connections. — Brown  University. — Patriotism  of  Rhode  Island. 
— Soldiers'  Monument. — The  Roger  Williams  Park. — Narragan- 
sett  Bay. — Suburban  Villages. — Points  of  Interest. — Butter  Ex- 
change.— Lamplightinrj  on  a  New  Plan.— Jewelry  Manufacto- 
ries. 

IN  the  year  1630,  Roger  Williams,  a  clergyman, 
persecuted  and  banished  from  Massachusetts  on 
account  of  his  peculiar  religious  views,  came  to  Rhode 
Island  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  city,  naming  it 
Providence,  in  gratitude  for  his  deliverance  from  per- 
secution. This  renowned  pioneer  not  only  laid  the 
corner  stone  of  a  great  and  growing  city,  but  ineffaceably 
stamped  his  character  upon  all  her  institutions,  public 
and  private. 

Providence  is  the  second  city  of  New  England  in 
respect  to  wealth  and  population.  It  is  pleasantly 
located  at  the  head  of  Narragansett  Bay,  thirty-five  miles 
from  the  ocean.  Its  commercial  advantages  are  unsur- 
passed, and  as  a  manufacturing  town  it  ranks  among 
the  first  in  the  Atlantic  States.  The  city  is  divided  into 
two  unequal  portions  by  a  narrow  arm  of  the  Bay,  which 
terminates  near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  town,  in 
a  beautiful  elliptical  sheet  of  water,  about  one  mile  in 
circumference,  called  the  cove,  or  basin.  This  basin  is 
inclosed  by  a  handsome  granite  wall,  capped  by  a  sub- 

399 


400      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

stantial  and  ornamental  iron  fence,  and  is  surrounded  by 
a  park  about  eighty  feet  in  width,  filled  with  a  variety 
of  beautiful  and  thrifty  shade  trees. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  city  rises  from  the  water, 
in  some  places  gradually,  in  others  quite  abruptly,  to 
the  height  of  more  than  two  hundred  feet.  This  ele- 
vated land  is  occupied  by  elegant  private  mansions  sur- 
rounded with  numerous  shade  trees  and  ornamental 
gardens,  making  one  of  the  most  delightful  and  de- 
sirable places  for  residence  to  be  found  in  any  city. 

The  western  portion  of  the  city  rises  very  gradually 
until  it  reaches  an  elevation  of  about  seventy-five  feet, 
when  it  spreads  out  into  a  level  plain,  extending  a  con- 
siderable distance  to  the  southwest.  The  northern  por- 
tion, recently  annexed  to  the  city,  is  more  sparsely 
populated,  and  portions  of  it  are  quite  rural  in  appear- 
ance and  abounding  in  hills,  numerous  springs  and 
small  streams  of  water. 

Providence  is  about  forty-three  miles  from  Boston, 
the  same  distance  from  Worcester,  ninety  miles  from 
Hartford,  fifty  miles  from  Stonington,  and  twenty  miles 
from  Fall  River,  with  each  of  which  places  it  is  con- 
nected by  numerous  daily  trains.  It  also  has  railroad 
connections  with  New  Bedford  and  southern  Massachu- 
setts, with  Fitchburg,  and  thence  with  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire.  There  is  now  in  process  of  construc- 
tion another  route  to  Northern  Connecticut,  Spring- 
field and  the  west.  It  is  also  closely  connected  with 
Newport,  and  other  places  on  Narragansett  Bay,  by 
steamboats. 

Brown  University  is  one  of  the  distinguishing  fea- 
tures of  Providence,  and,  as  an  institution  of  learning, 
stands  in  the  front  rank  of  American  colleges.  Founded 


PROVIDENCE.  401 

more  than  one  hundred  years  since,  this  college  has  come 
down  from  the  past,  hand  in  hand  with  Yale  and  Har- 
vard. Among  the  renowned  graduates  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity may  be  mentioned  Charles  Sumner,  the  great 
statesman,  the  devoted  patriot,  the  champion  of  the 
negro,  whose  fame  and  good  works  will  live  while  free- 
dom is  the  heritage  of  the  American  people. 

President  Wayland,  of  this  institution,  was  the  origi- 
nator of  the  public  Library  System  of  New  England — a 
system  whose  wonderful  power  for  good  is  markedly  on 
the  increase. 

During  the  war  no  State  of  the  whole  sisterhood  evinced 
more  patriotism  than  little  Rhode  Island,  and  Provi- 
dence was  largely  represented  in  the  Union  army.  A 
Soldiers'  Monument  stands  in  the  triangular  square  near 
the  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad  Depot,  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  Rhode  Island  soldiers  who  were 
killed  in  battle.  The  Monument  is  surmounted  by  a 
statue  in  bronze  of  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  and  in  niches 
of  the  granite  pillar  below  this  figure  each  arm  of  the 
service  is  represented  by  soldiers  in  bronze.  The  work 
is  finely  executed,  and  it  is  one  of  the  first  objects  which 
attracts  the  attention  of  the  stranger.  The  Artillery- 
man stands  behind  his  cannon  in  grim  silence;  represent- 
atives of  the  infantry,  the  cavalry  and  the  marine  arms 
of  the  service  are  his  coadjutors,  and  the  entire  group 
is  sternly  suggestive  of  war's  sad  havoc. 

About  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  heart  of  the  city, 
along  a  beautiful  McAdamized  road  leading  to  Paw- 
tuxet,  is  situated  the  Roger  Williams  Park,  a  tract 
of  land  containing  about  thirteen  hundred  acres,  which 
was  bequeathed  to  the  city  by  a  descendant  of  Roger 
Williams,  in  consideration  of  five  hundred  dollars,  to  be 

26 


402      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

raised  by  the  Providence  people,  for  the  erection  of  a 
monument  to  the  city's  illustrious  founder.  The  sum  to 
be  appropriated  for  that  purpose  amounts,  at  the  present 
time,  to  twenty-six  hundred  dollars. 

The  embryo  park  is  yet  a  wilderness,  unreclaimed,  and 
primeval  forest-trees  fill  the  wide  enclosure.  The  ground 
is  undulating  with  hill  and  dale,  and  pleasant  drive- 
ways under  the  dark  pines  and  hemlocks  are  already 
laid  out. 

The  memory  of  Roger  Williams  is  held  in  great 
veneration  by  the  citizens  of  Providence,  and  he  is 
ranked  with  William  Penn  in  the  category  of  noble 
pioneers.  Plenty  of  eulogistic  essays  and  poems  have 
been  written  concerning  him,  and  his  great  love  of  liberty, 
exemplified  in  his  life,  is  a  matter  of  history.  The 
following  fragment  of  verse,  by  Francis  Whipple,  one 
of  Rhode  Island's  poets,  places  the  memory  of  the  two 
heroes  side  by  side : — 

"  When  warlike  fame,  as  morning  mist  shall  fly, 
And  blood-stained  glory  as  a  meteor  die, 
When  all  the  dross  is  known  and  cast  away, 
And  the  pure  gold  alone  allowed  to  stay, 
Two  names  will  stand,  the  pride  of  virtuous  men, 
Our  Roger  Williams  and  good  William  Penn." 

Many  of  the  suburbs  of  Providence  are  of  some  note 
as  places  of  summer  resort.  The  coast  scenery  along 
Narragansett  Bay  is  full  of  charming  water-pictures, 
and  numerous  rocky  islands  may  be  seen,  on  which  are 
erected  little  white  cottages,  for  summer  occupation. 
The  islands  are  sometimes  connected  with  the  shore  by 
foot-bridges,  but  often  the  only  means  of  communica- 
tion with  land  is  by  boat. 

Nayatt  Point,  six  miles  distant  from  Providence 
by  rail,  is,  as  its  name  implies,  a  jutting  point  of  land, 


PROVIDENCE.  403 

reaching  out  into  the  bay,  where  beautiful  drives  along 
the  beach  and  through  the  neighboring  groves,  added  to 
the  salt  sea  air,  are  the  chief  summer  attractions.  Rocky 
Point,  directly  opposite  Nayatt,  is  famous  for  its  clam 
bakes,  and  on  moonlight  nights  in  summer,  excursion 
parties  from  Nayatt,  Barrington  or  Warren,  glide 
over  the  smooth  waters  of  the  bay  to  this  lovely  spot. 
The  red  glow  of  Rocky  Point  Light  can  be  seen  through 
the  night,  for  miles  and  miles  alorfg  the  coast  and  down 
the  bay. 

Westminster  street  is  the  principal  avenue  of  Provi- 
dence, and  is  handsomely  built  up  with  substantial  and 
elegant  business  blocks.  A  very  large  hostelry,  to  be 
called  the  Narragansett  Hotel,  is  in  process  of  erection 
at  the  corner  of  Dorrance  and  Broad  streets.  Just  back 
of  this  building,  the  new  Providence  Opera  House,  a 
structure  of  recent  date,  furnished  with  all  the  modern 
appliances  for  the  stage,  opens  its  doors  to  lovers  of  the 
histrionic  art.  The  What- Cheer  building,  the  Arcade, 
and  the  Butler  Exchange  are  all  well  known  business 
centres.  The  last  named  place  owes  its  existence  to  a 
clause  in  a  Scotchman's  will.  A  large  inheritance  was 
left  to  a  gentleman  in  Providence,  with  a  stipulation 
that  a  certain  amount  of  its  yearly  income  should  be 
used  in  the  erection  of  public  buildings  in  the  city. 
The  Butler  Exchange  is  one  of  the  children  of  this 
proviso. 

A  recent  improvement  in  Providence  is  that  of  light- 
ing the  city  lamps  by  means  of  electricity.  Only  one 
person  is  required  to  light  the  streets  of  the  entire  city. 
A  single  turn  of  the  screw  which  commands  the  net- 
work of  wires  leading  to  the  lamp  posts,  sets  every  gas  jet, 
far  and  near,  aflame,  in  one  instantaneous  blaze.  It  is  a 


404      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

marvelous  advance  on  the  old  way  of  doing  things,  and 
will  greatly  lessen  the  expenditures  of  the  city. 

Providence  is  justly  celebrated  for  its  manufacture  of 
jewelry.  The  largest  establishments  of  the  kind  in 
New  England  are  in  operation  here,  and  the  work 
turned  out  is  of  the  most  skillful  pattern.  A  visit  to 
the  lapidary  establishments  is  full  of  interest.  A 
shining  array  of  precious  stones,  from  the  white  bril- 
liance of  the  diamond,  to  the  mottled  moss  agate,  greets 
the  bewildered  gaze,  and  skillful  workmen  are  deftly 
transforming  them  into  the  beautiful  gems  which  shine 
in  the  jeweler's  window. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

QUEBEC. 

Appearance  of  Quebec. — Gibraltar  of  America. — Fortifications  and 
Walls. — The  Walled  City. — Churches,  Nunneries  and  Hospitals. 
— Views  from  the  Cliff. — Upper  Town. — Lower  Town. — Manu- 
factures.— Public  Buildings. — Plains  of  Abraham. — Falls  of 
Montmorenci. — Sledding  on  the  "Cone." — History  of  Quebec. 
— Capture  of  the  City  by  the  British. — Death  of  Generals  Wolfe 
and  Montcalm. — Disaster  under  General  Murray. — Ceding  of 
Canada,  by  France,  to  England. — Attack  by  American  Forces 
under  Montgomery  and  Arnold. — Death  of  Montgomery. — Capital 
of  Lower  Canada  and  of  the  Province  of  Quebec. 

OF  all  the  cities  and  towns  on  the  American  conti- 
nent, not  one  wears  such  an  Old- World  expression 
as  Quebec.  Not  even  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida,  with 
its  narrow  streets,  and  quaint,  overhanging  balconies,  so 
takes  the  traveler  back  to  a  past  age,  as  that  fortified 
city  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  not  French  in  any 
modern  sense.  But  the  city  and  its  inhabitants  belong 
to  a  France  now  passed  away,  the  France  of  St.  Louis, 
the  fleur-de-lis,  and  a  dominant  priesthood.  An  offshoot 
from  such  a  France,  now  blotted  out  and  forgotten  in  the 
crowding  of  events  during  the  last  century,  it  has  re- 
mained oblivious  of  all  the  changes  in  the  parent  country, 
and  not  even  British  rule,  and  the  infusion  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Celtic  blood  have  been  able  to  more  than 
partially  obliterate  its  early  characteristics. 

Quebec  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Charles 
River  with  the  St.  Lawrence,  on  the  northern  side  of  a 
point  of  land  which  projects  between  these  two  rivers. 


406      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

This  point  ends  in  an  abrupt  headland,  three  hundred 
and  thirty-three  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river ;  and 
its  precipitous  sides,  crowned  with  an  almost  impregnable 
fortress,  have  won  for  it  the  name  of  the  "  Gibraltar  of 
America."  The  most  elevated  part  of  this  promontory 
is  called  Cape  Diamond,  since  at  one  time  numerous 
quartz  crystals  were  found  there;  and  upon  this  is 
placed  the  citadel,  occupying  forty  acres.  From  the 
citadel  a  line  of  wall  runs  towards  the  St.  Charles  River, 
until  it  reaches  the  brow  of  the  bluff.  Continuing  around 
this  bluff  towards  the  St.  Lawrence,  it  finally  completes 
a  circle  of  nearly  three  miles  in  circumference,  by  again 
connecting  with  the  citadel.  This  encircling  wall  origi- 
nally had  five  gates,  but  four  of  these  were  removed 
some  time  ago.  They  are  now  being  replaced  by  more 
ornamental  ones.  The  old  St.  Louis  Gate,  opening  upon 
the  street  of  that  name,  is  being  replaced  by  the  Kent 
Gate,  in  honor  of  Queen  Victoria's  father,  who  spent 
the  summer  of  1791  near  Quebec.  Dufferin  Gate  is 
being  erected  on  St.  Patrick  street ;  Palace  and  Hope 
gates  are  to  be  replaced  by  castellated  gates ;  while  a 
light  iron  bridge  is  to  occupy  the  site  of  the  Prescott 
Gate. 

The  old  city  is  contained  within  this  walled  inclosure, 
and  here,  in  the  narrow,  tortuous,  mediaeval  streets,  are 
the  stately  churches,  venerable  convents,  and  other 
edifices,  many  of  them  dating  back  to  the  period  of  the 
French  occupation  of  the  city.  The  houses  are  tall, 
with  narrow  windows  and  irregular  gables,  two  or  three 
stories  high,  and  roofed,  like  the  public  buildings,  with 
shining  tin.  A  very  large  part  of  the  city  within  the 
walls  is,  however,  taken  up  with  the  buildings  and 
grounds  of  the  great  religious  corporations.  Monks, 


QUEBEC.  407 

priests,  and  nuns,  seemingly  belonging  to  another  age 
and  another  civilization  than  our  own,  are  jostled  in  the 
street  by  officers  whose  dress  and  manners  are  those  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  French  is  quite  as  frequently 
heard  as  English ;  and  everywhere  the  old  and  the  new, 
the  past  century  and  the  present,  seem  inextricably 
mingled.  The  past  has,  however,  set  its  ineffaceable 
stamp  upon  the  city  and  its  people.  There  is  none  of 
the  hurry  and  push  of  most  American  cities,  seen  even, 
to  a  degree,  in  Montreal.  To-day  seems  long  enough  for 
its  duties  and  its  pleasures,  and  to-morrow  is  left  to  take 
care  of  itself.  Even  the  public  buildings  have  the  stamp 
of  antiquity  upon  them,  and  are,  in  consequence,  inter- 
esting, though  few  of  them  are  architecturally  beautiful. 
The  churches  of  Quebec  have  none  of  the  grandeur 
of  those  of  Montreal.  Most  prominent  among  them  is 
the  Anglican  Cathedral,  a  plain,  gray  stone  edifice  in 
St.  Ann  street.  The  Basilica  of  Quebec,  formerly  the 
Cathedral,  is  capable  of  seating  four  thousand  persons, 
and  with  a  plain  exterior,  contains  some  invaluable  art 
treasures  in  the  form  of  original  paintings  by  Vandyke, 
Caracci,  Halle  and  others.  The  remains  of  Cham- 
plain,  the  .founder  and  first  governor  of  Quebec,  lie 
within  the  Basilica.  The  Ursuline  Convent  is  in 
Garden  street,  north  of  Market  Square,  and  is  composed 
of  a  group  of  buildings  surrounded  by  beautiful 
grounds.  It  was  founded  in  1639,  originally  for  the 
education  of  Indian  girls,  and  is  now  devoted  to  the 
education  of  girls  of  the  white  race.  The  remains  of 
Moutcalm  are  buried  within  the  convent  grounds,  in 
an  excavation  made  by  the  bursting  of  a  shell,  during 
the  engagement  in  which  he  lost  his  life.  The  Gray 
Nunnery,  the  Black  Nunnery,  and  Hotel  Dieu  with  its 


408     PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

convent  and  hospital,  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of 
the  Sacred  Blood,  of  Dieppe,  are  among  the  Roman 
Catholic  religious  institutions  of  the  city.  In  the 
hospital  of  the  H6tel  Dieu  ten  thousand  patients  are 
gratuitously  cared  for  annually. 

Durham  Terrace  lies  along  the  edge  of  the  cliff  over- 
looking the  St.  Lawrence.  It  occupies  the  site  of  the 
old  chateau  of  St.  Louis,  built  by  Cham  plain  in  1620, 
and  destroyed  by  fire  in  1834.  The  outlook  from  this 
terrace  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  world ;  though  the  view 
from  the  Grand  Battery  is  conceded  to  be  even  finer. 
Looking  down  from  an  elevation  of  nearly  three 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  the  lower  town,  the  majestic  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  smaller  stream  of  St.  Charles  rolling 
away  in  the  distance,  and  a  vast  stretch  of  country 
varied  by  hills  and  plains,  woodlands  and  mountains, 
are  spread  out  before  the  spectator,  making  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  pictures  of  which  it  is  possible  to  conceive. 

The  walled  city,  with  the  suburbs  of  St.  Louis  and 
St.  John  between  the  walls  to  the  eastward,  and  the 
Plains  of  Abraham  to  the  westward,  is  known  as  the 
upper  town.  The  lower  town  is  reached  from  the 
upper  by  the  C6te  de  la  Montague,  or  Mountain  street, 
a  very  steep  and  winding  street,  and  lies  below  the  cliff, 
principally  to  the  northward,  though  it  encircles  the 
base  of  the  promontory.  Here,  in  the  lower  town, 
is  the  business  portion  of  the  city,  with  all  its 
modern  additions.  The  narrow  strand  between  the 
cliff  and  the  rivers  is  occupied  by  breweries,  distilleries, 
manufactories,  and  numerous  ship-yards;  while  the 
many  coves  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  from  Champlain  street 
ro  Cape  Rouge,  are  filled  with  acres  of  vast  lumber 
rafts.  Quebec  is  one  of  the  greatest  lumber  and  timber 


QUEBEC.  409 

markets  in  America,  supplying  all  the  seaboard  cities  of 
the  United  States.  It  also  builds  many  ships,  and 
produces  sawed  lumber,  boots  and  shoes,  furniture,  iron 
ware  and  machinery. 

The  Custom  House  occupies  the  extreme  point 
between  the  St.  Lawrence  and  St.  Charles  rivers.  It 
is  Doric  in  architecture,  surmounted  by  a  dome,  and 
has  a  columned  facade  reached  by  an  imposing  flight  of 
steps.  The  Marine  Hospital,  built  in  imitation  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Muses  on  the  banks  of  the  Ilissus,  is 
situated  near  the  St.  Charles  River.  The  Marine  and 
Emigrants'  Hospital  is  not  far  away.  The  General 
Hospital,  an  immense  cluster  of  buildings  further  up 
the  river,  was  founded  in  1693,  and  is  in  charge  of  the 
nuns  of  St.  Augustine. 

The  Plains  of  Abraham,  lying  back  of  Quebec,  near 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  scene  of  the  famous  encounter 
between  the  forces  of  Wolfe  and  Montcalm,  are  fast 
being  encroached  upon  by  suburban  residences,  large 
conventual  establishments,  and  churches.  The  Mar- 
tello  towers  are  four  circular  stone  structures,  erected 
upon  the  Plains  to  defend  the  approaches  of  the  city. 
On  the  plains,  near  the  St.  Foye  road,  is  a  monument 
composed  of  a  handsome  iron  column,  surmounted  by  a 
bronze  statue  of  Bellona,  presented  by  Prince  Napoleon, 
and  erected  in  1854,  to  commemorate  the  victory  won 
by  the  Chevalier  de  Leris  over  General  Murray,  in 
1760.  The  Mount  Hermon  Cemetery,  beautifully  laid 
out  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice  which  overhangs  the 
St.  Lawrence,  lies  about  three  miles  out,  on  the  St.  Louis 
road. 

It  is  imperative  upon  the  stranger,  in  Quebec,  to  visit 
the  Falls  of  Montmorenci,  eight  miles  distant,  and 


410      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

among  the  most  beautiful  in  America.  A  volume  of 
water  fifty  feet  wide  makes  a  leap  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  down  a  sheer  rock  face,  into  a  boiling  and 
turbulent  basin.  During  the  winter  the  spray  which  is- 
continually  flying  from  this  cataract  congeals  and  falls 
like  snow,  until  it  builds  up  an  eminence  which  is 
known  as  the  Cone.  This  Cone,  in  favorable  seasons, 
sometimes  reaches  an  altitude  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet.  To  visit  the  Falls  in  sleighs,  over  the 
frozen  river,  and  to  ride  down  the  Cone  on  hand-sleds,  or 
"  toboggins,"  as  they  are  locally  called,  is  considered 
the  very  climax  of  enjoyment  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Quebec.  The  Cone  is  in  the  form  of  a  sugar  loaf,  quite 
as  white  and  almost  as  firm.  Up  its  steep  sides  the 
pleasure  seekers  toil  with  their  sleds,  and  then  glide 
from  the  top,  impelled  by  the  steepness  alone,  rushing 
down  the  slope  with  fearful  velocity,  and  sometimes  out 
on  the  ice  of  the  river  for  hundreds  of  yards,  until  the 
force  is  spent.  The  interior  of  the  Cone  is  not  unfre- 
quently  hollowed  out  in  the  shape  of  a  room,  and  a  bar 
is  set  up,  for  the  benefit  of  thirsty  pleasure  seekers. 

About  a  mile  above  Montmorenci  Falls  are  the 
Natural  Steps,  a  series  of  ledges  cut  in  the  limestone 
rock  by  the  action  of  the  river,  each  step  about  a  foot 
in  height,  and  as  regular  in  its  formation  as  though  it 
was  the  work  of  man. 

There  are  points  of  interest  nearer  Quebec,  among 
which  are  the  Isle  of  Orleans,  a  beautiful  and  romantic 
place,  laid  out  with  charming  drives,  and  reached  by 
ferry;  Chdteau  Bigot,  an  antique  and  massive  ruin, 
standing  at  the  foot  of  the  Charlesbourg  mountain ;  and 
still  further  away,  Lorette,  an  ancient  village  of  the 
Huron  Indians. 


QUEBEC.  411 

Quebec,  the  oldest  city  in  British  America,  was  settled 
in  1608,  the  spot  having  been  visited  by  Cartier,  in 
1534.  Its  history  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  and 
varied  one.  Twenty-one  years  after  its  founding  it  was 
seized  by  the  British,  who  did  not  restore  it  to  France 
until  1632.  In  1690  and  in  1711  the  British  made 
unsuccessful  maritime  assaults  upon  it.  It  continued 
to  be  the  centre  of  French  trade  and  civilization, 
and  of  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  in  North  America, 
until,  in  1759,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 
The  Fleur-de-lis  fluttered  from  the  citadel  of  Quebec 
for  two  hundred  and  twenty  years,  with  the  exception 
of  the  three  years  from  1629  to  1632,  when  Sir  David 
Kirke  placed  the  fortification  in  the  hands  of  England. 

In  1759,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  the  English, 
under  General  Wolfe,  attacked  the  city  and  bombarded 
it.  An  attempt  had  been  previously  made  to  land 
British  troops  at  Montmorenci,  which  had  been  frus- 
trated by  Montcalm,  resulting  in  a  loss  of  five  hundred 
men.  But  on  the  occasion  of  the  present  attack  Wolfe 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  landing  his  troops  above  the 
town.  He  pushed  his  fleet  stealthily  up  the  river, 
under  the  brow  of  the  frowning  precipice  and  beneath 
the  very  shadow  of  the  fortifications.  Passing  above 
the  city,  he  effected  a  landing  where  the  acclivity  was 
a  little  less  steep  than  at  other  places,  and  the  troops 
dragged  themselves  up,  and  actually  brought  with  them 
several  pieces  of  ordnance.  All  this  was  under  cover  of 
night ;  and  when  day  dawned  the  British  army  with  its 
artillery  was  found  in  line  of  battle  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham.  Wolfe  had  eight  thousand  men,  while  the 
French  troops  numbered  ten  thousand.  Montcalm  be- 
lioved  he  could  easily  drive  the  British  into  the  river  or 


412      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

compel  them  to  surrender,  and  so  threw  the  whole  force 
of  his  attack  upon  the  English  right,  which  rested  on  the 
river.  But  in  the  French  army  were  only  five  bat- 
talions of  French  soldiers,  the  balance  being  Indians 
and  Canadians.  The  French  right,  composed  of  these 
undisciplined  troops,  was  easily  routed  and  the  French 
left  was  ultimately  broken.  Five  days  later  the  British 
were  in  complete  possession  of  Quebec.  But  before  this 
victory  was  fairly  assured  to  the  English  troops,  both 
the  French  and  English  armies  had  lost  their  com- 
manders. 

The  spot  where  Wolfe  fell  in  the  memorable  battle  of 
September  thirteenth,  1759,  is  marked  by  an  unpre- 
tending column.  A  monument  was  shipped  from  Paris, 
to  commemorate  the  death  of  Montcalm,  but  it  never 
reached  Quebec,  the  vessel  which  conveyed  it  having 
been  lost  at  sea.  A  lengthy  inscription  upon  this 
monument,  after  giving  Marquis  de  Montcalm's  name 
and  many  titles,  and  depicting  in  glowing  words  his 
character  and  his  brilliant  achievements  as  a  soldier, 
says:  "Having  with  various  artifices  long  baffled  a 
great  enemy,  headed  by  an  expert  and  intrepid  com- 
mander, and  a  fleet  furnished  with  all  warlike  stores, 
compelled  at  length  to  an  engagement,  he  fell — in  the 
first  rank — in  the  first  onset,  warm  with  those  hopes  of 
religion  which  he  had  always  cherished,  to  the  inex- 
pressible loss  of  his  own  army,  and  not  without  the 
regret  of  the  enemy's,  September  fourteenth,  1759,  of 
his  age  forty-eight.  His  weeping  countrymen  deposited 
the  remains  of  their  excellent  General  in  a  grave  which 
a  fallen  bomb  in  bursting  had  excavated  for  him,  recom- 
mending them  to  the  generous  faith  of  their  enemies." 
Whether  the  "  generous  faith "  of  their  friends  was 


QUEBEC.  413 

equally  to  be  trusted  each  one  must  judge  for  himself; 
for  in  the  chapel  of  the  Ursuline  Convent  of  Quebec, 
among  the  curiosities  exhibited  to  the  visitor,  is  the 
skull  of  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm. 

In  April,  of  the  following  year,  the  British  very 
nearly  lost  what  Wolfe  had  gained  for  them.  General 
Murray  went  out  to  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  with  three 
thousand  men,  to  meet  the  French,  under  Chevalier  de 
Leris,  losing  no  less  than  one  thousand  men,  and  all  his 
guns,  which  numbered  twenty,  and  being  compelled 
to  retreat  within  the  walls.  The  arrival  of  a  British 
squadron  brought  him  timely  relief,  and  compelled  the 
French  to  retreat,  with  the  loss  of  all  their  artillery.  The 
treaty  of  peace  made  between  Louis  Fifteenth  and 
England,  in  1763,  ceded  the  whole  of  the  French 
Canadian  possessions  to  the  British.  In  December, 
1775,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  a  small  Ameri- 
can force,  under  General  Montgomery,  made  an  attack 
upon  the  fortress,  but  was  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  their 
commander  and  seven  hundred  men.  Arnold  preceded 
Montgomery,  making  an  astonishing  march,  and  endur- 
ing untold  perils,  by  the  Kennebec  and  Chaudi£re. 
Following  the  course  pursued  by  Wolfe,  he  placed  his 
troops  upon  the  Plains  of  Abraham ;  but  when  Mont- 
gomery joined  him,  from  Montreal,  it  was  found  they 
had  no  heavy  artillery,  and  the  only  alternatives  were, 
to  retreat,  or  to  carry  the  place  by  storm.  Deciding  on 
the  latter  course,  two  columns,  headed  by  Arnold  and 
Montgomery,  rushed  forward.  The  latter  carried  the 
intrench ment,  and  was  proceeding  toward  a  second  work, 
when  he  and  the  officers  who  followed  him  were  swept 
down  before  a  gun  loaded  with  grape.  Arnold  was 


414      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

carried  from  the  field,  wounded,  and  the  attempt  on 
Quebec  was  a  most  disastrous  failure. 

Quebec  remained  the  chief  city  of  Canada  until  the 
western  settlements  were  erected  into  a  separate  Pro- 
vince, as  Canada  West,  when  it  became  the  Capital  of 
Canada  East.  In  1867,  the  British  North  American 
Provinces  were  united,  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 
Canada  East,  or  Lower  Canada,  as  a  Province,  took  the 
name  of  the  city,  and  the  city  of  Quebec  became  the  Capi- 
tal of  the  Province.  The  population  of  Quebec  was,  in 
1871,  58,699,  of  whom  a  large  proportion  are  descend- 
ants of  the  early  French  settlers,  though  many  English, 
Scotch  and  Irish,  have  domiciled  themselves  within  it, 
and  form,  really,  its  most  enterprising  and  energetic 
citizens. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

READING. 

Geographical  Position  and  History  of  Reading. — Manufacturing 
Interests. — Population,  Streets,  Churches  and  Public  Buildings. 
— Boating  on  the  Schuylkill. — White  Spot  and  the  View  from 
its  Summit. — Other  Pleasure  Resorts.. — Decoration  Day. — 
Wealth  Created  by  Industry. 

I)EADING,  the  seat  of  Justice  of  Berks  County, 
_L\  Pennsylvania,  is  beautifully  situated  near  the 
junction  of  the  Tulpehocken  with  the  Schuylkill  River, 
and  is  midway  between  Philadelphia  and  Harrisburg, 
on  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad.  It  was 
named  after  the  ancient  borough  of  Reading,  a  promi- 
nent market  town  of  Berkshire,  England,  which  it  is 
said  to  resemble  in  some  of  its  geographical  surround- 
ings. Attention  was  first  called  to  Reading  in  the  fall 
of  1748,  by  the  agents  of  Richard  and  Thomas  Penn, 
who  represented  it  as  "  a  new  town  with  great  natural 
advantages,  and  destined  to  become  a  prosperous  place." 
It  was  incorporated  as  a  borough  in  1783,  and  as  a  city 
in  1847.  The  original  settlers  were  principally  Germans, 
who  gave  character  to  the  town,  both  in  language  and 
customs.  For  many  years  the  German  tongue  was  almost 
exclusively  spoken,  and  it  is  still  used  in  social  inter- 
course and  religious  worship  by  more  than  one-half  the 
present  population. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  Reading  are  second  to 
no  city  of  like  population  in  the  United  States;  while  it 
is  the  third  city  in  Pennsylvania  in  its  manufactures, 

415 


416      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Pittsburg  and  Philadelphia  alone  exceeding  it.  Among 
these  manufactures  the  working  of  iron  holds  the  first 
rank.  Much  of  the  ore  is  obtained  from  Penn's  Moun- 
tain, on  the  east  of  the  town.  Rolling  mills,  machine 
shops,  car  shops,  furnaces,  foundries,  cotton  mills  and 
hat  factories,  from  their  number  and  extent,  establish 
beyond  question  the  claim  of  Reading  to  be  considered 
one  of  the  first  manufacturing  towns  of  America.  The 
shops  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  alone 
employ  two  thousand  men.  From  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Schuylkill  rings  out 
the  discordant  music  of  numberless  factories,  betokening 
the  enterprise  of  her  productive  industries. 

Reading  has,  at  the  present  time,  a  population  num- 
bering not  far  from  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  It  is 
situated  on  an  elevated  and  ascending  plain,  which  rises 
to  the  eastward  into  Peun's  Mountain,  and  to  the  south- 
ward into  the  Neversink  Mountain.  The  city  is  abund- 
antly supplied  with  pure  water,  by  streams  flowing  from 
these  mountains.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  rich  farming 
country,  which  looks  to  it  for  supplies.  The  streets 
cross  each  other  at  right  angles,  and  the  chief  hotels  and 
stores  are  built  around  Penn's  Square,  which  occupies 
the  centre  of  the  city.  It  contains  thirty-one  churches, 
most  prominent  among  which  is  Trinity,  German  Luth- 
eran, an  antique  building  with  a  spire  two  hundred  and 
ten  feet  in  height.  Christ  Church,  Episcopal,  is  a 
handsome  Gothic  edifice  of  more  recent  date,  and  with  a 
spire  nearly  as  high.  The  Grand  Opera  House  and 
Mishler's  Academy  of  Music  furnish  amusements  for  the 
pleasure-seekers  of  the  city. 

The  Schuylkill  River  is  one  of  the  most  charmingly 
picturesque  in  America,  Taking  its  rise  among  the  rocky 


READING.  417 

heights  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  when  it  reaches  Reading  it 
has  left  all  the  ruggedness  of  the  mountain  region 
behind,  and  flows  between  gently  sloping  banks,  which, 
though  sometimes  rising  in  the  background  to  consider- 
able elevations,  never  lose  their  softness  of  outline  and 
their  pastoral  beauty.  One  evening  we  strolled  down 
to  this  river,  and' took  a  most  delightful  boat  ride  from 
the  Lancaster  bridge  to  the  dam  opposite  the  White 
House  and  Neversink.  Two  boats  were  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  our  party.  It  was  a  lovely  May  evening, 
the  air  soft  and  warm,  yet  with  all  the  freshness  of 
spring.  We  glided  down  the  stream,  the  trees  upon  the 
banks  overhanging  the  water,  and  catching  reflections 
of  themselves  in  its  depths.  Our  downward  progress 
was  easy  and  pleasant.  The  current  aided  our  efforts, 
while  the  tranquil  waters,  rippled  only  by  a  passing 
boat,  offered  no  resistance  to  us  in  our  course.  When 
we  turned  and  headed  up  stream,  we  found  it  quite 
another  matter.  Then  we  had  to  bring  all  our  energies 
and  wills  to  aid  us  in  the  labor  of  rowing.  This  is 
something  that  a  man  is  apt  to  discover  many  times  in 
his  life,  that,  in  both  material  and  moral  matters,  it  is 
easier  to  float  with  the  current  than  to  make  headway 
against  it. 

A  call  from  Mr.  W.  H.  Zeller,  of  the  Reading  Eagle, 
paid  me  early  one  day,  before  the  sun  was  up,  was  an 
indication  that  that  gentleman  was  ready  to  pilot  me  to 
"  White  Spot,"  the  famous  resort  of  Reading.  Starting 
as  soon  as  possible,  we  walked  up  Franklin  street, 
crossed  Perkiomen  avenue,  and  took  a  "  bee  line  "  for 
our  destination.  Up  and  up  and  up  we  walked,  ran 
and  jumped,  over  gulches  and  stones,  and  from  log  to  log, 
halting  occasionally  for  breath,  and  to  discuss  the  city  and 


27 


418      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

landscape  at  our  feet.  It  was  but  half-past  five  o'clock 
when  we  reached  the  goal  of  our  walk.  Taking  in  a 
view  from  its  elevated  heights,  I  felt  that  rny  visit  to 
Reading  would  have  given  me  a  very  indefinite  idea  of 
its  natural  beauties,  had  I  not  seen  it  from  this  point. 
White  Spot  is  upon  Penn's  Mountain,  one  thousand  feet 
above  the  river.  I  would  but  mislead  the  imagination 
of  the  reader,  were  I  to  attempt  to  convey  a  faithful 
impression  of  the  magnificent  panorama  which,  for  a 
while,  almost  bewildered  me.  But  let  him  imagine,  if 
he  can,  a  vast  girdle  of  far-off,  misty,  blue  hills,  faintly 
defined  by  the  horizon ;  against  them  to  the  north  and 
west  jut  rows  of  towering  but  withal  gently  sloping 
mountains,  purple,  black,  or  darkly  blue,  just  as  each 
drifting  cloud  shadows  them ;  within  these  encircling 
hills  and  mountains  scatter  the  loveliest  landscape  fea- 
tures of  which  the  human  mind  can  conceive;  green 
meadows,  wooded  hills,  enchanting  groves,  dotted  here 
and  there  with  the  most  charming  irregularity ;  farm- 
houses and  farms,  in  themselves  a  little  Arcadia ;  roads 
diverging  from  a  common  centre,  and  winding  about  until 
in  the  distance  they  look  like  the  tiny  trail  which  a  child's 
stick  makes  in  the  sand  ;  a  clear,  silvery  river,  looking 
in  the  sunshine  like  liquid  light,  reproducing  on  its 
mirrored  surface  the  wonderful  beauty  which  clothes 
either  bank,  studded  with  green  isles  that  "  blossom  as 
the  rose,"  spanned  by  splendid  bridges  as  delicate  in 
their  appearance  as  lace  work  or  filigree,  yet  supporting 
thousands  of  tons  daily;  in  the  heart  of  all  a  city, 
whose  factories,  furnaces,  churches,  majestic  public 
buildings,  handsome  private  residences,  and  attractive 
suburbs  betoken  prosperity,  intelligence,  culture,  wealth 
and  constant  improvement ;  over  the  whole  throw  that 


READING.  419 

peculiar  couleur  de.  rose  with  which  the  heart  in  its 
happiest  moments  paints  all  it  loves,  and  he  will  have  a 
faint  conception  of  the  aspect  of  Reading  and  its  sur- 
roundings as  seen  from  White  Spot. 

After  resting  on  the  summit,  and  taking  in,  to  the 
full,  this  magnificent  view,  we  returned  to  the  city  by 
the  way  of  Mineral  Spring,  another  delightful  resort, 
which  lies  surrounded  by  charming  natural  beauties, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  Reading.  White  House 
Hotel,  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  southeast,  on  the  Never- 
sink  Mountain,  three  hundred  feet  above  the  river,  is 
still  another  favorite  visiting  place,  from  which  a  fine 
view  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country  may  be 
obtained,  though  not  equal  to  that  of  White  Spot. 

I  was  particularly  fortunate  in  finding  myself  still  in 
Reading  on  Decoration  Day,  that  day  which  has  become 
a  national  holiday,  and  is  universally  observed  through- 
out the  northern  States.  The  occurrence  of  this  anni- 
versary is  hailed  by  the  "  Boys  in  Blue"  as  affording 
a  blessed  opportunity  for  doing  honor  to  their  dead 
comrades,  and  renewing  their  devotion  to  the  flag  which 
they  followed  through  a  four  years'  war  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Union.  Reading  manifested  her  patri- 
otism by  a  parade  of  all  her  civic  and  military  organiza- 
tions, and  by  invitation  I  was  permitted  to  participate 
in  the  decoration  exercises,  at  the  Charles  Evans  Ceme- 
tery. The  people  of  Reading  are  truly  loyal,  as  indus- 
trious and  order-loving  people  are  sure  to  be.  The 
perpetuation  of  the  Union  means  to  them  the  protec- 
tion of  their  homes  and  the  encouragement  of  their 
industries. 

Although  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Philadel- 
phia and  Pittsburg  are  exceedingly  large — those  of  the 


420      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

latter  without  parallel  on  the  continent,  if,  in  the  world 
— a  visit  to  Reading  is,  nevertheless,  desirable,  for  one 
who  would  gain  a  comprehensive  idea  of  the  industries 
of  Pennsylvania.  The  city  is  not  a  large  one,  but  it  is 
almost  wholly  a  city  of  workers.  With  the  great  coal 
and  iron  regions  of  the  State  at  its  back,  their  products 
brought  to  it  by  river,  railroad  and  canal,  its  manufac- 
turing enterprises  are  multiplied  in  numbers,  and  are 
almost  Cyclopean  in  their  proportions.  Here  the  brawn 
of  the  country,  with  giant  strength  united  with  surprising 
skill,  hammers  and  fashions  the  various  devices  of  an 
advanced  civilization,  which  its  brain  has  already 
imagined  and  planned.  Here  wealth  is  created  by  the 
sturdy  strokes  of  industry,  and  the  permanent  pros- 
perity of  the  State  secured. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

RICHMOND. 

Arrival  in  Richmond. — Libby  Prison. — Situation  of  the  City. — 
Historical  Associations. — Early  Settlement.  —  Attacked  by 
British  Forces  in  the  Revolution. — Monumental  Church. — St. 
John's  Church. — State  Capital. — Passage  of  the  Ordinance  of 
Secession. — Richmond  the  Capital  of  the  Confederate  States.— 
Military  Expeditions  against  the  City. — Evacuation  of  Petersburg. 
— Surrender  of  the  City. — Visit  of  President  Lincoln. — Historical 
Places. — Statues. — Rapid  Recuperation  After  the  War. — Manu- 
facturing and  Commercial  Interests. — Streets  and  Public  Build- 
ings.— Population  and  Future  Prospects. 


O 


the  morning  of  October  twenty-third,  1863,  a 
large  company  of  Union  prisoners,  including  the 
author,  made  an  entry  into  Richmond,  which  was  the 
reverse  of  triumphant,  we  having  been,  four  days 
before,  made  prisoners  of  war  in  the  cavalry  fight  at 
New  Baltimore,  in  Northern  Virginia.  A  brief  stay 
in  Warrenton  jail,  a  forced  march  on  a  hot  day,  for  a 
distance  of  thirty  miles,  to  Culpepper,  and  then  a  transfer 
by  march  and  rail,  landed  us  at  last  at  Libby  Prison, 
Richmond.  The  "chivalry"  and  the  descendants  of 
the  F.  F.  Vs  did  not  impress  as  very  favorably,  as  we 
marched  from  the  depot,  through  some  of  the  principal 
streets,  to  the  James  River.  Contemptuous  epithets  were 
bestowed  freely  upon  us,  while  the  female  portion  of 
the  community  was  even  more  bitter  in  its  expressions 
of  hatred,  and  a  troop  of  boys  followed  in  our  rear, 
hooting  and  yelling  like  young  demoniacs. 

Libby  Prison  was  situated  at  the  corner  of  Fourteenth 
421 


422      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  Gary  streets,  and  was  an  old,  dilapidated  three-story 
brick  structure,  which  still  bore  upon  its  northwest 
corner  the  sign  "  Libby  &  Son,  Ship  Chandlers  and 
Grocers."  The  windows  were  small  and  protected  by 
iron  bars.  The  story  of  iny  stay  in  this  prison-house 
I  have  recorded  in  "  Capture,  Prison-Pen  and  Escape." 
It  was  ray  abiding  place  until  the  seventh  of  the  following 
May,  when,  in  a  filthy,  rough  box-car,  a  number  of 
prisoners,  including  myself,  were  shipped  to  Danville. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  my  prolonged  stay  in  Richmond 
did  not  materially  alter  or  improve  my  impressions  in 
regard  to  the  city.  True,  our  view  of  the  city  from  our 
prison  windows  was  limited,  but  memories  only  of  suf- 
fering, privation  and  unnecessary  barbarity,  prompted 
by  the  cruel  nature  of  those  who  had  us  in  charge,  are 
associated  with  it.  The  city  was  at  that  time  the  heart 
and  centre  of  the  then  Southern  Confederacy,  the  seat 
of  the  Rebel  government,  the  rendezvous  of  troops,  and 
the  hatching  place  of  treason  and  rebellion. 

Yet  one  who  views  Richmond  at  the  present  day, 
unbiased  by  the  untoward  circumstances  which  threw 
their  baleful  influence  over  us,  will  see  much  to  admire 
in  and  about  the  city.  It  is  situated  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  James  River,  about  one  hundred  miles  by  water 
from  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  same  distance  a  little 
west  of  south  of  Washington.  It  is  built  upon  several 
eminences,  the  principal  ones  being  Shockoe  and  Rich- 
mond hills,  separated  by  Shockoe  Creek.  Like  so  many 
other  Southern  cities,  its  residences  are  surrounded  by 
gardens,  in  which  are  grass  plots,  shrubbery  and  flowers; 
and  in  the  business  quarter  are  many  substantial  edifices. 

The  Richmond  of  to-day  is  very  different  from  the 
Richmond  of  war  times.  The  loyal  city  has  been 


RICHMOND.  423 

literally  reconstructed  upon  the  ruins  of  the  rebellious 
one.  There  are  few  cities  around  which  so  many  his- 
torical associations  cluster,  as  around  Richmond.  It  is 
on  the  site  of  a  settlement  made  as  early  as  1611,  by  Sir 
Thomas  Dale,  and  in  honor  of  Prince  Henry  called 
Henrico,  from  which  the  county  afterwards  took  its 
name.  An  early  historical  account  says  it  contained 
three  streets  of  framed  houses,  a  church,  storehouses  and 
warehouses.  It  was  protected  by  ditches  and  palisades, 
and  no  less  than  five  rude  forts.  Two  miles  below  the 
city  a  settlement  had  been  made  two  years  previously. 
In  1644-5  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  ordered  a  fort  to 
be  erected  at  the  falls  of  the  James  River,  to  be  called 
"  Forte  Charles."  In  1676  war  was  declared  against 
the  Indians,  and  bloody  encounters  took  place  between 
the  aborigines  and  their  white  neighbors.  Bloody  Run, 
near  Richmond,  is  so  named,  agcording  to  tradition,  on 
account  of  a  sanguinary  battle  which  one  Bacon  had 
there  with  the  Indians;  though  it  is  stated  on  other 
authority  that  its  name  originated  from  the  battle  in 
which  Hill  was  defeated  and  Totopotomoi  slain. 

In  1677  certain  privileges  were  granted  Captain 
William  Byrd,  upon  the  condition  that  he  should  settle 
fifty  able-bodied  and  well  armed  men  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Falls,  to  act  as  a  protection  to  the  frontier  against 
the  Indians.  Richmond  was  established  by  law  as  a 
town  in  May,  1742,  in  the  reign  of  George  II,  on  land 
belonging  to  Colonel  William  Byrd,  who  died  two 
years  later.  The  present  Exchange  Hotel  is  near  the 
locality  of  a  warehouse  owned  by  that  gentleman.  In 
1779  the  capital  of  the  State  was  removed  to  Richmond, 
from  Williamsburg,  the  latter,  its  former  capital,  being 
in  too  assailable  a  position.  In  1781  the  traitor  Arnold 


424      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

invested  the  city  with  a  British  force.  As  soon  as  he 
arrived  he  sent  a  force,  under  Colonel  Simcoe,  to  destroy 
the  cannon  foundry  above  the  town.  After  burning 
some  public  and  private  buildings,  and  a  large  quantity 
of  tobacco,  the  British  forces  left  Richmond,  encamping 
for  one  night  at  Four  Mile  Creek.  The  village  at  that 
time  contained  not  more  than  eighteen  hundred  inhabit- 
ants, one-half  of  whom  were  slaves.  In  1789  it 
contained  about  three  hundred  houses.  At  that  period 
all  the  principal  merchants  were  Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish. 
Paulding  describes  the  inhabitants  as  "  a  race  of  most 
ancient  and  respectable  planters,  having  estates  in  the 
country,  who  chose  it  for  their  residence,  for  the 
sake  of  social  enjoyments.  They  formed  a  society  now 
seldom  to  be  met  with  in  any  of  our  cities.  A  society 
of  people  not  exclusively  monopolized  by  money-making 
pursuits,  but  of  libergl  education,  liberal  habits  of 
thinking  and  acting;  and  possessing  both  leisure  and 
inclination  to  cultivate  those  feelings  and  pursue  those 
objects  which  exalt  our  nature  rather  than  increase  our 
fortune."  In  1788,  a  convention  met  in  the  city,  to 
ratify  the  Federal  Constitution. 

At  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Thirteenth  streets  stands 
the  Monumental  Church,  in  commemoration  of  a  terrible 
calamity  which  once  befell  the  city.  On  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  December,  1811,  a  play  entitled  "  The  Bleeding 
Nun  "  was  being  performed  in  the  little  theatre  of  the 
city,  and  proved  such  a  great  attraction  that  the  house 
was  crowded,  not  less  than  six  hundred  people  being 
present  on  the  eventful  night.  Just  before  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  play  the  scenery  caught  fire,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  the  whole  building  was  wrapped  in  flames. 
The  fire  falling  from  the  ceiling  upon  the  performers 


RICHMOND.  425 

was  the  first  notification  the  audience  had  of  what  was 
transpiring.  A  scene  of  the  wildest  confusion  ensued. 
There,  was  but  one  door  through  which  the  entire 
audience,  composed  of  men,  women  and  children,  could 
make  its  exit.  The  fire  flashed  from  one  portion  of  the 
interior  to  another,  catching  on  the  garments  of  the 
frantic  people.  All  pressed  in  a  wild  panic  toward  the 
door.  People  jumped  and  were  pushed  out  of  the 
windows.  Many  were  rescued  with  their  clothing 
literally  burned  off  from  them,  and  no  less  than  sixty- 
nine  persons  perished  in  the  flames,  among  them  George 
W.  Smith,  Governor  of  the  State,  and  many  other 
prominent  men  and  women.  A  great  funeral  was  held 
in  the  Baptist  meeting-house,  and  the  entire  population 
of  the  city  attended,  as  mourners.  The  remains  of  the 
unfortunates  were  interred  beneath  a  mural  tablet  which 
is  now  in  the  vestibule  of  the  church  which  was  subse- 
quently erected  on  the  site  of  the  theatre. 

St.  John's  Church,  on  Church  Hill,  at  the  corner  of 
Broad  and  Twenty-fourth  streets,  dates  back  to  anti- 
Revolutionary  times,  and  in  it  was  held,  in  1775,  the 
Virginia  Convention,  in  which  Patrick  Henry  made  his 
famous  speech,  containing  the  words  "  Give  me  liberty  01 
give  me  death !"  It  was  subsequently  the  place  of 
meeting  of  the  Convention  which,  in  1788,  ratified  the 
Federal  Constitution.  Among  the  members  of  this 
Convention  were  James  Madison,  John  Marshall,  James 
Monroe,  Patrick  Henry,  George  Nicholas,  George 
Mason,  Edmund  Randolph,  Pendleton  and  Wythe. 
Rarely  has  any  occasion  in  a  single  State  presented  such 
a  list  of  illustrious  names  as  we  find  here.  This  church 
is  a  plain,  unpretending  edifice,  built  in  the  style  of  a 
century  ago,  to  which  has  been  added  a  modern  spire. 


426      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  State  Capitol  stands  on  the  summit  of  Shockoe 
Hill,  in  the  centre  of  a  park  of  eight  acres.  It  is  of 
Grseco-Composite  style  of  architecture,  with  a  portico 
of  Ionic  columns,  planned  after  that  of  the  Maison  cassZe 
at  Nismes,  in  France,  the  plan  being  furnished  by  Thomas 
Jefferson.  Beneath  a  lofty  dome  in  the  centre  of  the 
building  is  Houdon's  celebrated  statue  of  Washington, 
of  marble,  life  size,  representing  him  clad  in  the  uniform 
of  a  revolutionary  general.  Near  by,  in  a  niche  in  the 
wall,  is  a  marble  bust  of  Lafayette.  This  building  has 
been  the  scene  of  many  noted  political  gatherings.  In 
it,  on  January  seventh,  1861,  was  read  Governor 
Letcher's  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  which  he  de- 
clared it  was  "  monstrous  to  see  a  government  like  ours 
destroyed  merely  because  men  cannot  agree  about  a 
domestic  institution."  Nevertheless,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  the  same  month,  the  Capitol  Building  witnessed  the 
unanimous  passage  of  the  following  resolution  : — 

"  Resolved,  That  if  all  efforts  to  reconcile  the  unhappy 
differences  between  sections  of  our  country  shall  prove 
abortive,  then  every  consideration  of  honor  and  interest 
demands  that  Virginia  shall  unite  her  destinies  with 
her  sister  slaveholding  States." 

And  on  the  thirteenth  of  February,  the  same  edifice 
saw  a  State  Convention  meet  within  its  walls ;  on  the 
sixteenth  of  April,  Governor  Letcher  refused  the  requisi- 
tion of  the  Secretary  of  War  for  troops  to  assist  in 
putting  down  the  Rebellion  in  South  Carolina;  and  the 
next  day  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  passed,  two 
months  having  been  given  to  an  active  discussion  of  its 
expediency,  pro  and  con.  The  Confederate  flag,  with 
eight  stars,  was  raised  from  the  dome  of  the  Capitol,  and 
the  Custom  House,  which  stands  on  Main  street,  between 


RICHMOND.  427 

Tenth  and  Eleventh,  had  the  gilt  sign  on  its  portico, 
"  United  States  Court,"  removed.  A  citizen  writing 
from  Richmond,  on  April  twenty-fifth,  says :  "  Our 
beautiful  city  presents  the  appearance  of  an  armed  camp. 
Where  all  these  soldiers  come  from,  in  such  a  state  of 
preparation,  I  cannot  imagine.  Every  train  pours  in  its 
multitude  of  volunteers,  but  I  am  not  as  much  surprised 
at  the  number  as  at  the  apparent  discipline  of  the  country 
companies.  *  *  But  the  war  spirit  is  not  confined  to 
the  men  nor  to  the  white  population.  The  ladies  are 
not  only  preparing  comforts  for  the  soldiers,  but  arming 
and  practicing  themselves.  Companies  of  boys,  also, 
from  ten  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  fully  armed  and  well 
drilled,  are  preparing  for  the  fray.  In  Petersburg, 
three  hundred  free  negroes  offered  their  services,  either 
to  fight  under  white  officers,  or  to  ditch  and  dig,  or  any 
kind  of  labor.  An  equal  number  in  this  city  and  across 
the  river,  in  Chesterfield,  have  volunteered  in  like 
manner." 

A  resolution  was  passed  by  the  Convention  inviting 
the  Southern  Confederacy  to  make  Richmond  the  seat 
of  government.  The  Ordinance  of  Secession  having 
been  submitted  to  the  people,  the  vote  in  the  city 
stood  twenty-four  hundred  in  favor  and  twenty-four 
against,  being  less  than  half  the  vote  polled  at  the 
Presidential  election  in  November  previous.  Richmond 
became  a  general  rendezvous  for  troops. 

The  Confederate  Congress  met  in  Richmond,  in  the 
hall  of  the  House  of  Delegates,  on  the  twentieth  of 
July,  1861,  and  the  seat  of  government  continued  there 
until  the  taking  of  the  city  marked  the  fall  of  the  Con- 
federacy. A  school-house  in  the  vicinity  of  the  rear  of 
Monumental  Church,  was  at  that  time  known  as 


428      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Brockenburg  House,  and  was  the  residence  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  president  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Two 
tobacco  warehouses,  under  their  former  titles  of  Libby 
&  Son  and  Castle  Thunder,  together  with  Belle  Isle, 
were  military  prisons  during  the  war,  and  in  the  former 
of  these,  as  already  narrated,  the  writer  was  confined  for 
several  months. 

About  the  middle  of  May,  1862,  the  Federal  forces 
having  passed  Yorktown  and  Williamsburg,  began  to 
move  directly  upon  Richmond.  Consternation  seized  the 
city,  all  who  could  get  away  packed  up  everything  and 
fled  southward.  Even  President  Davis  took  his 
family  and  hastened  to  North  Carolina.  It  was 
resolved  to  destroy  the  city  by  conflagration  as  soon  as 
the  Union  troops  reached  it.  The  Federal  army  was, 
however,  compelled  to  abandon  the  Peninsula,  and 
Richmond  was  safe  for  the  time  being.  On  February 
twenty-ninth,  1864,  General  Kilpatrick,  with  his  divi- 
sion of  cavalry,  commenced  his  march  upon  the  city, 
and  came  within  six  miles,  when  he  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  to  Median icsburg.  The  next  day  he  made  a 
second  attempt,  advancing  by  the  Westham  or  river 
road,  but  was  confronted  by  superior  forces,  and  again 
compelled  to  fall  back,  and  shortly  after  he  returned 
down  the  Peninsula. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war  Richmond  had  been 
the  objective  point  of  a  series  of  formidable  expeditions 
for  its  capture,  under  Generals  McDowell,  McClellan, 
Burnside,  Hooker,  Meade  and  Grant.  The  strong 
earthworks  which  were  drawn  around  the  city  for  its 
protection  still  remain  as  mementoes  of  the  great 
struggle.  On  July  thirtieth,  1864,  the  Union  forces 
advanced  as  far  as  Petersburg,  and  after  destroying  one 


RICHMOND.  429 

fort,  were  repulsed.  It  was  not  until  April  second, 
1865,  that  the  Rebel  forces  were  obliged  to  surrender 
that  outpost,  and  on  the  following  day,  General  Weitzel, 
with  his  troops,  entered  the  city  of  Richmond. 

President  Davis  was  attending  church  at  St.  Paul's 
Episcopal  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Grace  and  Ninth 
streets,  when  a  messenger  brought  him  a  dispatch  from 
General  Lee,  announcing  that  Petersburg  was  about  to 
be  evacuated.  The  officers  of  the  Southern  Confederacy 
stood  not  on  the  order  of  their  going,  but  went  at  once. 
Jefferson  Davis  took  his  family  and  left  the  city 
immediately.  The  Rebel  authorities  took  with  them 
what  stores  and  treasures  they  could  convey  away, 
burned  what  they  had  to  leave  behind,  and  set  fire  to 
the  warehouses,  public  buildings,  and  bridges  across 
the  James  River.  The  flames  communicated  to  adjacent 
structures,  and  it  was  thought  the  entire  city  would  be 
destroyed.  A  large  portion  of  its  business  section  was 
thus  laid  waste;  the  number  of  buildings  destroyed  being 
estimated  at  one  thousand,  and  the  entire  loss  at  eight 
millions  of  dollars. 

On  the  fourth  of  April,  President  Lincoln  reached 
Richmond,  and  entered  the  house  which  had  but  two 
days  before  been  occupied  by  Jefferson  Davis,  but 
which  was  now  the  headquarters  of  General  Weitzel. 
He  came  unattended,  and  walked  up  from  the  river  into 
the  city,  without  parade,  as  any  ordinary  citizen  might 
have  done.  The  news  of  his  presence  soon  spread,  and 
the  colored  people  flocked  around  him,  with  strong  de- 
monstrations of  joy.  "  God  bless  you,  Massa  Linkum ! " 
was  heard  on  every  hand,  while  the  tears  rolled  down 
the  cheeks  of  some,  and  others  danced  for  joy.  And 
here,  perhaps  all  unconsciously,  the  second  father  of  his 


430      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

country  emulated  the  first.  It  is  told  of  Washington, 
that,  a  colored  man  having  bowed  to  him,  he  returned  the 
bow  with  stately  courtesy.  Being  remonstrated  with  for 
bowing  to  a  colored  person,  he  replied  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  be  outdone  in  politeness  by  a  negro.  At  Rich- 
mond a  colored  man  bowed  to  Lincoln,  with  the  saluta- 
tion, "May  de  good  Lord  bless  you,  President 
Linkum  ! "  Lincoln  returned  the  bow  with  cordiality, 
evidently,  like  Washington,  determined  not  to  be 
outdone  in  politeness  by  a  negro.  But  that  bow 
not  only  indicated  the  noble  nature  of  the  man  who 
recognized  a  humanity  broader  than  a  color  line,  and 
over  whom  already  hung  the  dark  shadow  of  martyr- 
dom ;  but  it  also  was  a  foretoken  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Civil  Rights 
act,  which  so  quickly  followed  the  quelling  of  the 
Rebellion. 

In  the  soldiers'  section  of  the  Hollywood  Cemetery,  in 
the  western  limits  of  the  city,  overlooking  the  James 
River,  are  the  graves  of  hundreds  of  Confederate  dead, 
from  the  midst  of  which  rises  a  monumental  pyramid 
of  rough  stone.  In  the  same  cemetery,  on  a  hill  at  its 
southern  extremity,  a  monument  marks  the  resting- 
place  of  President  Monroe.  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart, 
commander  of  Lee's  cavalry,  is  also  buried  here. 

The  Tredegar  Iron  Works,  which  are  still  in  active 
operation,  and  whose  buildings  cover  thirteen  acres  of 
ground,  were  the  great  cannon  manufactory  of  the  Con- 
federacy. Several  battle  fields  and  national  cemeteries 
are  within  a  few  hours'  drive  of  the  city.  The  old 
African  Church,  a  long,  low  building  in  Branch  street, 
near  Monumental  Church,  is  famous  as  a  place  of 
political  meetings,  both  before  and  during  the  war. 


RICHMOND.  431 

Crawford's  equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  in  the 
esplanade  leading  from  the  Governor's  house  to  the 
Capitol  Square,  will  recall  the  early  days  of  the  Repub- 
lic. The  statue  is  of  bronze,  representing  a  horse  and 
rider  of  colossal  size,  the  horse  thrown  back  partly  upon 
its  haunches,  on  a  massive  granite  pedestal,  and  around  it 
are  grouped  bronze  figures  of  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas 
Jefferson,  John  Marshall,  George  Mason,  Thomas  Nelson, 
and  Andrew  Lewis,  all  illustrious  sons  of  Virginia.  In 
the  Capitol  Square,  north  of  the  Capitol  Building,  is 
Foley's  statue  of  General  "  Stonewall "  Jackson,  of 
heroic  size,  on  a  granite  pedestal,  and  near  it  a  life-size 
marble  statue  of  Henry  Clay.  In  the  State  Library, 
which  contains  forty  thousand  volumes,  are  many  his- 
torical portraits. 

Richmond  has  rapidly  recuperated  since  the  war.  Her 
streets  have  been  rebuilt,  and,  in  common  with  many 
other  Southern  cities,  she  has,  since  the  abolition  of  sla- 
very, and  the  consequent  elevation  of  labor  and  attraction 
of  Northern  enterprise  and  capital,  developed  many  indus- 
trial interests.  The  Gallego  and  Haxall  flour  mills 
are  among  the  largest  in  the  world.  It  has  a  large 
number  of  cotton,  and  a  still  larger  number  of  tobacco 
factories ;  and  contains  also  forges,  furnaces,  paper  mills, 
and  machine  shops.  Its  chief  exports  are,  however,  to- 
bacco and  flour.  Richmond  owes  its  present  flourishing 
condition  to  its  river  facilities,  and  the  immense  water 
power  supplied  by  the  falls.  It  is  alike  the  manufac- 
turing and  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  State. 
Vessels  drawing  ten  feet  of  water  can  come  within  a 
mile  of  the  centre  of  the  city,  those  drawing  fifteen  feet, 
to  three  miles  below.  A  canal  around  the  falls  gives 

o 

river  navigation  two  hundred  miles  further  into  the 


432      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

interior.  Steamboat  lines  connect  it  with  the  principal 
Atlantic  cities,  and  railroads  and  canals  open  up  com- 
munication with  the  North,  South,  and  West. 

The  city  is  regularly  laid  out,  the  streets  crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles.  Those  parallel  with  the  river  are 
named  alphabetically,  A  street  being  on  the  river.  The 
cross  streets  are  named  numerically.  The  principal 
thoroughfare  is  Main  or  E  street,  which  is  the  centre  of 
business.  The  fashionable  quarter  is  on  Shockoe  Hill, 
in  the  western  part  of  the  city,  where  are  also  the  chief 
public  edifices.  The  Penitentiary  is  in  the  western 
suburbs  facing  the  river,  and  is  a  massive  structure  three 
hundred  feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  deep. 
The  Almshouse  is  one  of  the  finest  buildings  in  the  city. 
There  are  a  large  number  of  churches,  thirteen  colleges, 
and  an  orphan  asylum.  Five  bridges  across  the  James 
River  connect  it  with-Spring  Hill  and  Manchester,  the 
latter  a  pretty  town  containing  two  cotton  mills. 

The  population  of  Richmond  in  1880  was  63,803 
inhabitants,  which  showed  an  increase  of  more  than  ten 
thousand  persons  in  ten  years.  Unlike  Charleston,  S. 
C.,  it  is  surrounded  by  a  populous  rural  region,  whose 
products  find  a  market  here,  and  whose  population  look 
largely  to  the  city  for  their  supplies.  It  will  never  attain 
the  commercial  consequence  of  Savannah  or  of  Norfolk, 
but  as  the  centre  of  the  tobacco  region,  and  the  seat  of 
large  manufacturing  interests,  it  will  always  possess  a 
certain  importance  and  prosperity. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

SAINT  PAUL. 

Early  History  of  Saint  Paul.— Founding  of  the  City. — Public 
Buildings. — Roman  Catholics. — Places  of  Resort. — Falls  of 
Minnehaha. — Carver's  Cave. — Fountain  Cave. — Commercial 
Interests. — Present  and  Future  Prospects. 

THE  first  white  man  who  ever  visited  the  locality 
where  Saint  Paul  now  stands,  was  Father 
Hennepin,  wno  made  a  voyage  of  discovery  up  the 
Mississippi,  above  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony,  in  1680. 
But  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  after  his  visit 
the  entire  section  of  country  remained  practically  in  the 
possession  of  the  Indians.  Eighty-six  years  afterwards 
Jonathan  Carver  made  a  treaty  with  the  Dakotas,  and 
in  1837  the  United  States  made  a  treaty  with  the  Sioux, 
throwing  the  laud  open  to  settlement. 

The  first  building  in  Saint  Paul  was  erected  in  1838, 
but  for  a  number  of  years  afterwards  it  remained 
merely  an  Indian  trading- post.  In  1841  a  mission  was 
established  on  the  spot  by  the  Jesuits,  and  a  log  chapel 
dedicated  to  Saint  Paul,  from  which  the  city  afterward? 
took  its  name. 

The  land  upon  which  Saint  Paul  is  built  was 
purchased  in  1849,  at  the  government  price  of  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre.  The  same  year 
the  town  was  made  the  capital  of  the  State,  while  it  was 
yet  a  hamlet  of  a  few  log  huts.  Four  years  later  it  had 
nearly  four  thousand  inhabitants,  with  handsome  public 
buildings,  good  hotels,  stores,  mills,  factories,  and  other 
28  433 


434      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

constituents  of  a  prosperous  town.  In  1846  the  town 
had  but  ten  inhabitants.  In  1856  it  had  ten  thou- 
sand. Steamers  were  coming  and  going;  loads  of 
immigrants  were  arriving;  drays  and  teams  were 
driving  hither  and  thither;  carpenters  and  masons 
were  hard  at  work;  yet  could  not  put  up  houses 
fast  enough ;  shops  and  dwellings  were  starting  out 
of  the  ground,  as  if  by  magic.  In  1880  the  popu- 
lation had  increased  to  fifty  thousand,  and  was  steadily 
and  rapidly  multiplying. 

Saint  Paul  originally  occupied  the  western  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  has  now  extended  to  the  eastern 
bank  as  well.  It  is  divided  into  a  lower  and  upper 
town,  the  former  lying  on  the  low  shore  between  the 
bluff  and  the  river,  and  containing  the  wholesale  houses, 
shipping  houses  and  factories.  The  latter  occupies  no 
less  than  four  plateaus  rising  one  above  another,  in  a 
semicircle  around  the  bend  of  the  river,  the  first  plateau 
being  nearly  a  hundred  feet  in  height.  Here  are  the 
retail  stores,  public  buildings,  churches  and  private  resi- 
dences. The  streets  in  the  central  portions  of  the  city 
cross  one  another  at  right  angles,  but  become  irregular 
as  they  approach  the  boundaries.  They  are  graded  and 
paved  and  lighted  by  gas.  Two  bridges  connect  the 
opposite  shores  of  the  river,  and  horse  cars  traverse  all 
sections  of  the  city.  Its  general  appearance  is  pleasing 
in  the  extreme.  Many  of  the  houses  are  built  of  blue 
limestone,  which  is  found  underlying  one  of  the  terraces 
in  great  quantities. 

The  State  Capitol  building  is  now  in  process  of  con- 
struction, and  will,  when  completed,  be  a  very  handsome 
edifice,  occupying  an  entire  square.  An  United  States 
Custom  House,  an  opera  house,  a  large  number  of 


SAINT  PAUL.       .  435 

handsome  churches,  and  several  public  school  buildings 
are  among  the  objects  worthy  of  note  in  the  city. 

Although  Saint  Paul  is  settled  largely  by  people  from 
New  England  and  New  York  State,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics still  hold  an  important  place  in  the  city.  The  first 
to  take  possession  of  the  spot,  they  will  be  the  last  to 
relax  their  hold.  They  have  a  number  of  large  and 
handsomely  finished  church  edifices,  and  have  estab- 
lished an  orphan  asylum.  There  is  also  a  Protestant 
orphan  asylum,  and  three  free  hospitals. 

The  city  boasts  an  Academy  of  Sciences,  which  has  a 
very  full  museum,  a  Historical  Society  and  a  Library 
Association,  each  of  which  latter  have  fine  libraries. 

Saint  Paul  is  in  the  midst  of  a  charming  and  romantic 
country,  and  the  throngs  of  people  who  seek  a  transient 
home  within  its  borders  during  the  heat  of  summer  find 
abundance  of  delightful  drives  and  places  for  picnics 
and  excursions.  White  Bear  Lake  and  Bald  Eagle 
Lake,  but  a  short  distance  away  by  rail,  furnish  boat- 
ing, fishing  and  bathing  for  pleasure  seekers,  as  well  a? 
most  enchanting  scenery  for  the  lovers  of  nature.  The 
city  park  is  but  two  miles  away,  on  the  shores  of  Lake 
Como,  and  is  also  an  attractive  place. 

All  lovers  of  the  romantic  should  thank  Longfellow 
that  by  means  of  his  exquisite  poem  of  Hiawatha  he  has 
rescued  the  beautiful  Falls  of  Minnehaha,  meaning  in  the 
Dakota  language  "  laughing  water,"  from  being  known 
as  Brown's  Falls,  a  name  which  some  utilitarian  egotist 
had  bestowed  upon  it.  From  a  high  bank,  covered  wi<;h 
shrubbery,  the  clear,  silvery  stream  makes  a  sudd  in 
leap  of  about  fifty  feet  into  the  chasm  beneath.  A  v^il 
of  mist  rises  before  the  falls,  and  the  sun  shining  ujou 
it  spans  the  cataract  with  a  rainbow. 


436      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  city,  in  Dayton  Bluff,  near 
the  river,  is  Carver's  Cave,  so  named  after  Jonathan 
Carver,  already  referred  to,  who,  in  this  cave,  in  May, 
1767,  made  his  treaty  with  the  Indians,  by  which  he 
secured  a  large  tract  of  land.  The  cave  contains  a  lake 
large  enough  to  have  a  boat  upon  it. 

Two  miles  above  Saint  Paul,  on  a  beautiful  clear 
stream  that  flows  into  the  Mississippi,  is  Fountain  Cave, 
a  most  wonderful  and  interesting  production  of  nature. 
It  seems  to  have  been  formed  by  the  action  of  the  stream 
which  finds  an  outlet  through  it.  It  has  an  arched 
entrance  with  a  vaulted  roof,  the  entrance  being  twenty 
feet  in  height  by  twenty-five  in  width,  while  roof,  sides 
and  floor  are  of  pure  white  sandstone.  This  cave  con- 
tains a  number  of  chambers,  the  largest  being  one 
hundred  feet  in  length  by  twenty-five  feet  in  width,  and 
twenty  feet  in  height.  The  cave  has  been  penetrated 
for  a  thousand  feet  or  more,  and  still  has  unexplored 
recesses. 

Saint  Paul  stands  at  the  head  of  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  the  Falls  and  Rapids  of  Saint  An- 
thony, a  short  distance  above,  effectually  barring  the 
further  upward  progress  of  craft  from  below,  though 
above  the  falls  small  steamboats  thread  the  waters  of  the 
youthful  Mississippi  to  the  furthest  outposts  of  civiliza- 
tion. At  this  point  the  immense  grain  fields  of  the  north- 
west find  an  outlet  for  their  annual  products,  and  to  this 
point  comes  the  merchandise  which  must  supply  the 
needs  of  an  already  large  and  constantly  increasing 
agricultural,  mining  and  lumbering  population.  Nu- 
merous railroads  connect  it,  not  only  with  the  great  trade 
centres  of  the  east  and  south,  but  with  a  hundred  thriving 
towns  and  villages  in  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  who 


SAINT  PAUL.  437 

look  to  it  for  supplies;  and  when  the  Northern  Pacific 
is  completed,  the  entire  northwest  will  be  brought  into 
communication  with  Saint  Paul,  and  as  the  Mississippi 
will  share  with  the  lakes  the  transportation  of  produce, 
manufactures  and  ores  of  an  inexhaustible  but  now 
scarcely  populated  region,  Saint  Paul  will  derive  im- 
mense advantages  from  this  gigantic  enterprise. 

Saint  Paul  is  already  a  town  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance on  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Her  streets  teem  with 
business,  and  boats  of  all  descriptions  lie  at  her  wharves. 
Already  a  populous  city,  what  she  is  to-day  is  but  the 
beginning  of  what  the  future  will  behold  her.  A 
generation  hence  she  will  count  her  inhabitants  by 
hundreds  where  now  she  counts  them  by  tens;  her 
business  will  have  increased  in  like  proportion ;  and  in 
the  no  distant  future  she  will  be  known  as  the  great 
metropolis  of  the  Northwest 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY. 

The  Mormons. — Pilgrimage  Across  the  Continent. — Site  of  Salt 
Lake  City. — A  People  of  Workers. — Spread  of  Mormons  through 
other  Territories. — City  of  the  Saints. — Streets. — Fruit  and 
Shade  Trees. — Irrigation. — The  Tabernacle. — Residences  of  the 
late  Brigham  Young. — Museum. — Public  Buildings. — Warm  and 
Hot  Springs. — Number  and  Character  of  Population. — Barter 
System  before  Completion  of  Railroad. — Mormons  and  Gentiles. 
— Present  Advantages  and  Future  Prospects  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

OF  all  the  cities  which  have  sprung  into  being  and 
grown  and  prospered,  since  the  discovery  of  the 
American  continent,  there  is  not  one  with  which  is  asso- 
ciated so  much  interest,  and  which  attracts  such  universal 
curiosity  as  Salt  Lake  City.  From  the  time  of  the  so- 
called  discovery  of  the  Book  of  Mormon,  in  1827,  by 
Joseph  Smith,  through  all  the  wanderings  of  the  adherents 
of  Mormonism,  beginning  with  the  organization  of  the 
"Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints,"  in  Man- 
chester, New  York,  including  its  removal  to  Kirtland, 
Ohio,  and  the  establisment  of  a  branch  church  in  Jackson 
County,  Missouri ;  its  transplanting  to  Nauvoo,  Illinois  ; 
the  temporary  sojourn  of  its  adherents  in  Iowa ;  and  the 
final  exodus,  in  1847,  over  the  then  almost  unknown  and 
unexplored  plains  and  mountains  of  the  great  west, 
until  they  reached  the  Land  of  Promise,  lying  between 
the  Wasatch  Range  and  the  Sierra  Nevadas,  and  there 
settled  themselves  permanently,  to  build  up  literally  a 
"Kingdom  of  Christ  upon  the  earth,"  the  Mormons 
have  been  in  more  senses  than  one  a  peculiar  people. 

438 


SALT  LAKE  CITY.  439 

They  have  been  unpleasantly  peculiar  in  their  advocacy 
and  practice  of  polygamy,  and  during  their  early  sojourn 
at  Salt  Lake,  in  their  defiance  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment. In  some  other  respects  they  have  challenged 
the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  have  set  patterns  in 
industry,  and  in  a  system  of  government,  which  seems 
to  consider  the  well-being  of  all,  both  of  which  might 
be  imitated  to  advantage  by  the  "Gentiles"  who  affect 
to  despise  them. 

After  a  weary  pilgrimage  through  a  wilderness  far 
greater  than  that  traversed  by  the  Israelites  in  days  of 
old,  the  Mormons  found  their  Canaan  in  an  immense 
valley,  from  four  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  walled  in  by  mountain  ranges 
which  seemed  to  furnish  natural  barriers  against  the 
incroachments  of  an  antagonistic  civilization.  This 
valley,  the  geologist  said,  was  the  bottom  of  a  great, 
pre-historic  sea,  which  by  some  mighty  convulsion  of 
nature  had  been  lifted  up  from  its  original  level,  and  its 
outlet  cut  off,  and,  like  the  Caspian  Sea  and  others,  was 
left  to  shrink  by  evaporation.  In  the  deepest  depression 
of  this  valley  still  remained  all  that  was  left  of  this  ancient 
inland  ocean,  reduced  now  to  seventy-five  miles  in  length 
and  thirty  in  breadth,  with  an  average  depth  of  but 
eight  feet.  Still  holding  in  solution  a  large  proportion 
of  the  salts  of  the  greater  sea,  its  waters  form  one  of  the 
purest  and  most  concentrated  brines  in  the  world,  con- 
taining twenty-two  per  cent,  of  chloride  of  sodium, 
slightly  mixed  with  other  salts.  All  through  the  valley 
of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  there  are  salt  and  alkaline 
deposits,  evidencing  the  former  presence  of  water.  The 
valley  seemed  barren  and  uninviting ;  yet  in  it,  as 
offering  a  refuge  from  the  persecutions  which  they  had 


440      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

suffered  in  the  east,  the  Mormons  decided  to  establish 
their  church  and  build  their  homes.  They  found 
the  soil,  barren  as  it  looked,  would  grow  grass,  grain 
and  fruits ;  and  though  the  climate  is  changeable,  the 
winter  cold,  with  deep  snows,  and  the  heat  of  summer 
intense,  they  had  faith  to  believe  that  they  could  endure 
whatever  natural  disadvantages  they  could  not  over- 
come, and  that  they  should  in  time  receive  the  reward 
of  their  piety  and  industry. 

Their  chief  town  and  ecclesiastical  capital  was  located 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  Jordan,  between  Lake 
Utah,  a  beautiful  body  of  fresh  water  lying  to  the  south- 
ward, and  Great  Salt  Lake,  lying  twenty  miles  to  the 
northward.  The  new  settlement  was  eleven  hundred 
miles  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  six  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  east-northeast  of  the  then  scarcely  heard  of  city  of 
San  Francisco.  Its  site  extended  close  up  to  the  base 
of  the  great  mountains  on  the  north,  while  to  the  south- 
ward its  view  spread  over  more  than  a  hundred  miles 
of  plain,  with  a  range  of  rugged  mountain  peaks,  snow- 
capped and  bold,  lying  beyond.  No  grander  outlook 
could  scarcely  be  imagined. 

In  the  laying  out  of  the  city  the  fact  was  kept  in  view 
that  it  was  for  a  people  of  workers,  each  one  of  whom 
must  be  self-sustaining.  In  truth,  the  great  success  of 
these  people  is  due  to  the  fact  that  no  class  of  drones 
has  been  recognized  and  provided  for.  All,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  were  expected  to  work,  church 
officials  as  well  as  laymen  ;  and  prosperity  has  attended 
industry,  as  it  always  does.  The  wilderness  and  solitary 
place  were  glad  for  them,  and  the  desert  was  made  to 
rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose ;  and  a  mighty  nation 
within  a  nation  has  been  built  tip  in  the  valley  of  Utah, 


SALT  LAKE  CITY.  441 

protected  by  its  mountain  fastnesses.  The  Mormons 
have  become  a  strong  and  prosperous  people,  and  have 
not  only  possessed  themselves  of  Utah,  but  have  sent 
out  colonies  to  Colorado,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  Wyom- 
ing, Idaho  and  Arizona,  which  have  prospered  and 
increased,  until  they  now  practically  control  those 
Territories. 

It  is  not  my  province  to  speak  of  the  Mormons  from 
either  a  religious  or  political  standpoint.  Their  material 
prosperity  one  cannot  fail  to  see,  and  a  truthful  historian 
must  note  it.  The  "  City  of  the  Saints,"  as  Salt  Lake 
City  is  sometimes  called,  is  doubly  interesting,  from  its 
history  and  from  its  peculiar  features,  so  unlike  those 
of  any  other  city.  The  streets  are  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet  wide,  crossing  each  other  at  right  angles, 
an  eighth  of  a  mile  apart,  each  square  thus  formed  con- 
taining ten  acres.  Each  square  is  divided  into  eight 
lots,  measuring  ten  by  twenty  rods,  and  containing  one- 
fourth  of  an  acre.  Several  of  the  squares  in  the  business 
quarter  of  the  town  have  been  cut  across  since  the 
original  laying  out,  forming  cross  streets.  The  streets 
are  lined  with  trees,  while  streams  of  running  water 
course  down  each  side  of  every  street,  being  brought 
from  the  neighboring  mountains,  ten  thousand  feet  high, 
furnishing  a  pure  water  supply,  and  irrigating  the 
gardens.  Almost  every  lot  has  an  orchard  of  pear, 
apple,  plum,  apricot,  and  peach  trees,  and  Utah  fur- 
nishes large  quantities  of  fresh  and  dried  fruit  for  the 
eastern  markets.  Apricots,  which  in  the  east  are  almost 
unknown,  sometimes  grow  as  large  as  eastern  peaches, 
from  six  to  eight  inches  in  circumference.  Locust, 
maple  and  box-elder  are  the  favorite  shade  trees,  and 
these  grow  luxuriantly.  When,  however,  their  roots 


442      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

strike  soil  from  which  the  alkali  has  not  yet  been  washed, 
their  leaves  turn  from  a  dark  green  to  a  sickly  yellow. 
But  irrigation  washes  out  this  alkali,  and  the  trouble 
from  it  grows  less  every  year. 

Salt  Lake  City  is  divided  into  twenty  wards,  nearly 
every  one  of  which  has  a  square.  Every  ward  has  its 
master,  who  superintends  the  public  improvements,  and 
sees  that  every  man  does  his  share  without  shirking. 
The  houses  are  generally  of  adobe  (sun-dried  bricks), 
though  a  few  of  the  newer  business  blocks  are  handsome 
and  commodious  stone  structures.  Most  of  the  dwelling 
houses  are  small,  and  but  a  single  story  in  height,  having 
separate  entrances  when  there  is  more  than  one  wife  in 
the  family.  The  city  is  not  an  imposing  one.  The 
wide  streets,  large  grounds  around  each  dwelling,  and 
low,  small  houses,  give  it  more  the  appearance  of  an 
overgrown  village  than  that  of  a  city.  Nevertheless, 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  plan  upon  which  it  is  built 
secures  to  its  inhabitants  the  maximum  of  comfort, 
health  and  cleanliness.  There  are  no  narrow  and  stifling 
streets,  overshadowed  by  tall  buildings  ;  no  dirty  alleys ; 
no  immense  crime  and  pestilence-breeding  tenement 
houses.  Each  little  dwelling  has  its  garden  and  orchard, 
securing  to  each  family  the  blessings  of  fresh  vegetables 
and  fruit,  and  making  each  in  a  measure  self-dependent. 
The  air  is  pure,  blowing  down  the  valley  from  the 
mountain  heights ;  and  no  foul  vapors  from  half  pro- 
tected sewers  or  reeking  courts  poison  it. 

The  chief  business  thoroughfares  are  Main  and  Temple 
streets.  The  former  is  entirely  devoted  to  trade,  while 
church  edifices  are  found  in  the  latter.  The  Tabernacle 
is,  of  course,  the  most  prominent  object  which  meets  the 
eye  of  the  traveler  as  he  arrives  in  Salt  Lake  City, 


SALT  LAKE  CITY.  443 

standing  out,  as  it  does,  in  all  its  huge  proportions,  sur- 
rounded by  the  tiny  homes  of  the  people.  It  is  on  Temple 
street,  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  is  entirely  without 
architectural  beauty,  its  predominant  features  being  its 
hugeness  and  its  ugliness.  It  is  an  enormous  wooden 
structure,  oval  in  form,  with  an  immense  dome-like 
roof,  supported  by  forty-six  sandstone  pillars.  It  will 
seat  fifteen  thousand  persons,  and  is  used  for  the  services 
of  the  church,  lectures  and  public  gatherings.  It  con- 
tains one  of  the  largest  organs  in  America.  It  is  inclosed 
within  a  high  wall,  and  a  little  to  the  east  of  it,  within 
the  same  inclosure,  are  the  foundations  of  a  new  temple, 
estimated  to  cost  ten  millions  of  dollars,  but  which  will 
not  probably  be  finished  for  many  years  to  come.  An 
inferior  adobe  building,  also  within  the  walls,  is  the 
celebrated  Endowment  House,  where  are  performed 
those  sacred  and  mysterious  rites  of  the  Mormon  Church 
which  no  Gentile  may  look  upon,  and  where  the  Saints 
are  sealed  to  their  polygamous  wives. 

On  South  Temple  street,  east  of  the  Tabernacle,  is  the 
group  of  buildings  known  as  Brigham  Block,  inclosed, 
like  the  former,  by  a  high  stone  wall,  and  comprising 
the  Tithing  House,  the  Beehive  House,  the  Lion  House, 
the  office  of  the  Deseret  News,  and  various  other  offices 
and  buildings.  The  Beehive  House  and  the  Lion 
House  constituted  the  residences  of  the  late  Brigham 
Young  and  eighteen  or  twenty  of  his  wives.  A  hand- 
some structure  nearly  opposite,  the  most  pretentious 
structure  in  Salt  Lake  City,  and  known  as  Amelia 
Palace,  was  built  by  Brigham  Young,  for  his  favorite 
wife,  Amelia.  The  theatre  is  a  large  building  with  a 
gloomy  exterior,  but  handsomely  fitted  up  inside.  It  is 
a  favorite  resort  of  the  Saints,  who  make  it  a  source  of 


444      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

innocent  recreation,  and  entertain  no  prejudices  against 
it,  permitting  their  wives  and  children  to  appear  upon 
its  boards.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Brighara  Young 
was  at  one  time  an  actress  at  this  theatre. 

On  South  Temple  street,  opposite  the  Tabernacle,  is 
the  Museum,  containing  interesting  products  of  Mormon 
industry ;  specimens  of  ores  from  the  mines  of  Utah,  and 
precious  stones  from  the  desert ;  P.  fair  representation  of 
the  fauna  of  the  Territory ;  relics  of  the  mound  builders ; 
articles  of  Indian  use  and  manufacture,  and  other  curi- 
osities, which  the  visitor  may  behold  on  the  payment  of 
a  small  admission  fee.  The  City  Hall,  which  is  at  the 
present  time  used  by  the  Territorial  Government,  is  a 
handsome  building,  erected  at  a  cost  of  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  In  its  rear  is  the  city  prison.  A  co-operative 
store  in  successful  operation  will  be  found  occupying  a 
handsome  building  on  East  Temple  street.  The  Deseret 
National  Bank,  at  the  corner  of  East  Temple  and  South 
First  streets,  is  also  a  fine  building.  The  two  principal 
hotels  of  Salt  Lake  City  are  the  Walker  House,  on  Main 
street,  and  the  Townsend  House,  at  the  corner  of  West 
Temple  and  South  Second  streets.  With  all  its  quaint- 
ness  and  want  of  resemblance  to  other  cities,  it  has 
adopted  the  system  of  horse  cars,  which  run  on  the  prin- 
cipal streets,  and  make  all  parts  of  the  city  accessible. 

About  one  mile  distant  from  the  city  are  the  Warm 
Springs,  issuing  from  the  limestone  rock  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountains.  The  water  of  these  springs  contains  lime, 
magnesia,  iron,  soda,  chlorine,  and  sulphuric  acid,  and 
their  temperature  is  lukewarm.  A  bath  in  them  is 
delightful,  and  beneficial,  if  not  prolonged.  Private 
bathing  apartments  are  fitted  up  for  the  use  of  bathers. 
A  mile  further  north  are  the  Hot  Springs,  also  strongly 


SALT  LAKE  CITY.  445 

sulphurous,  and  with  a  temperature  of  over  200°.  Eggs 
may  be  boiled  in  these  springs  in  three  minutes,  ready  for 
the  table.  The  water  from  these  springs  forms  a  beau- 
tiful lake,  called  Hot  Spring  Lake,  which  practically 
destroys  all  agriculture  and  vegetation  for  hundreds  of 
yards  within  the  vicinity.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the 
hot  water  does  not  prevent  the  existence  of  some  kinds 
of  excellent  fish,  among  which  have  been  seen  some  very 
fine,  large  trout. 

The  population  of  Salt  Lake  City  is  something  over 
twenty  thousand  persons,  of  whom  about  one-third  are 
Gentiles  and  apostate  Mormons.  This  population  is 
made  up  of  all  nationalities,  apostles  and  missionaries 
being  continually  sent  out  to  nearly  every  part  of  the 
civilized  world,  to  make  proselytes,  and  bring  them  to 
the  fold.  These  converts  to  the  faith  are  usually  from 
the  lower  classes,  ignorant  and  superstitious ;  and  as  a 
consequence  the  intellectual  and  social  standards  of  Salt 
Lake  City  are  not  high.  But  with  their  new  faith  these 
people  acquire  habits  of  industry,  if  they  never  possessed 
them  before ;  and  the  conditions  of  the  city  are  favorable 
for  growth  in  certain  directions.  Their  children  are 
educated  and  brought  up  to  a  higher  position  than  that 
occupied  by  their  parents ;  so  that  whatever  may  be  our 
opinion  as  to  the  advantages  or  disadvantages,  from  a 
religious  point  of  view,  in  their  conversion  to  the  Mor- 
mon faith,  materially,  intellectually  and  socially  they 
have  many  of  them  undoubtedly  made  a  change  for  the 
better.  They  are  taken  away  from  the  stationary  con- 
ditions of  life  in  the  old  world,  and  transplanted  into  a 
new  and  growing  country,  where  there  is  plenty  of  room 
and  incentive  for  progress  and  expansion.  Though  the 
first  generation  do  not  always  avail  themselves  of  this 


446      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

room,  nor  even  the  second,  to  its  fullest  extent,  ultimately 
these  people  will  come  to  compare  favorably  with  other 
classes  of  American  citizens. 

The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  although 
it  deprived  the  Mormons  of  that  isolation  which  they 
sought,  has  been  of  vast  benefit  to  them  in  material  ways. 
It  is  said  that  when  the  city  was  first  settled  the  whole 
community  could  not  have  raised  one  thousand  dollars 
in  cash.  And  up  to  the  completion  of  the  railroad  nine- 
tenths  of  the  business  of  the  Mormon  people  was  con- 
ducted on  a  system  of  barter.  A  writer  thus  facetiously 
describes  the  condition  of  things  at  that  period :  "A 
farmer  wishes  to  purchase  a  pair  of  shoes  for  his  wife. 
He  consults  the  shoemaker,  who  avers  his  willingness  to 
furnish  the  same  for  one  load  of  wood.  He  has  no 
wood,  but  sells  a  calf  for  a  quantity  of  adobes,  the  adobes 
for  an  order  on  the  merchant,  payable  in  goods,  and  the 
goods  and  the  order  for  a  load  of  wood,  and  straightway 
the  matron  is  shod.  Seven  watermelons  purchased  the 
price  of  a  ticket  of  admission  to  the  theatre.  He  paid 
for  the  tuition  of  his  children  seventy-five  cabbages  per 
quarter.  The  dressmaker  received  for  her  services  four 
squashes  per  day.  He  settled  his  church  dues  in  sorghum 
molasses.  Two  loads  of  pumpkins  paid  his  annual 
subscription  to  the  newspaper.  He  bought  a  '  Treatise 
on  Celestial  Marriage '  for  a  load  of  gravel,  and  a  bottle 
of  soothing  syrup  for  the  baby  with  a  bushel  of  string 
beans." 

There  are  not  the  most  harmonious  relations  existing 
between  the  Mormon  and  Gentile  people  of  Salt  Lake 
City.  Each  regard  the  other  with  suspicion.  The 
former  look  upon  the  latter  as  hostile  to  their  faith,  and 
determined  to  destroy  it.  The  Gentiles  regard  certain 


SALT  LAKE  CITY.  447 

practices  of  the  Mormons  with  abhorrence,  and  them- 
selves as  at  heart  rebellious  to  the  government  to  which 
they  have  been  compelled  to  submit.  The  leading  papers 
of  the  two  factions  are  very  hostile,  and  keep  alive  the 
feeling  of  antagonism. 

Lying  between  two  prominent  mountain  chains,  the 
chief  city  in  a  vast  valley  which  the  enterprise  of  man 
has  demonstrated  to  be  fertile ;  furnishing  a  depot  of 
supplies,  and  a  mart  and  shipping  place  for  produce  and 
manufactures ;  Salt  Lake  City  is  destined  to  become  an 
important  point  in  the  western  section  of  our  country. 
Her  future  is  assured,  even  though  the  people  who 
founded  her,  together  with  the  faith  to  which  they  cling, 
should  disappear  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  be 
forgotten,  like  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  which  they  believe 
themselves  to  represent.  Essentially  American  in  all 
her  features — since  no  city  of  the  Old  World,  either 
ancient  or  modern,  furnishes  a  prototype — and  in  her 
very  plan  including  certain  sure  elements  of  success,  as 
our  Western  States  and  Territories  become  filled  up  with 
a  thriving  and  industrious  people,  she  will  find  herself 
the  natural  centre  of  a  vast  agricultural  and  mining 
population,  and  continue  to  increase  in  importance  and 
prosperity. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

SAN  FRANCISCO. 

San  Francisco. — The  Golden  State. — San  Francisco  Bay. — Golden 
Gate. — Conquest  of  California  by  Fremont,  1848. — Discovery 
of  Gold.— Rush  to  the  Mines,  1849.— "Forty-niners."— Great. 
Rise  in  Provisions  and  Wages. — Miners  Homeward  Bound. — 
Dissipation  and  Vice  in  the  City. — Vigilance  Committee. — Great 
Influx  of  Miners  in  1850. — Immense  Gold  Yield. — Climate. — 
Earthquakes. — Productions. — Irrigation. — Streets  and  Buildings. 
— Churches. — Lone  Mountain  Cemetery. — Cliff  House. — Seal 
Rock. — Theatres. — Chinese  Quarter. — Chinese  Theatres. — Joss 
Houses. — Emigration  Companies. — The  Chinese  Question. — 
Cheap  Labor. — "The Chinese  Must  Go." — Present  Population 
and  Commerce  of  San  Francisco. —Exports. — Manufactures. — 
Cosmopolitan  Nature  of  Inhabitants. 

SAN  FRANCISCO  is  situated  on  the  best  harbor 
which  our  Pacific  Coast  affords,  a  little  below  the 
38th  parallel  of  latitude,  and  about  a  degree  further 
south  than  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati  and  Washington.  It 
is  the  western  terminus  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad, 
American  gateway  to  Asia  and  the  far  East. 

As  the  traveler  proceeds  thitherward  from  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  on  descending  the  western  slopes  of 
the  Sierras,  he  finds  himself  fairly  within  the  Golden 
State ;  and  in  more  senses  than  one  does  California 
deserve  that  name.  If  it  be  the  summer  season  the  very 
air  seems  filled  with  a  golden  haze.  In  leaving  the 
mountains  all  freshness  is  left  behind.  Trees  and  fields 
are  yellow  with  drouth,  which  lasts  from  April  to 
November.  Dense  clouds  of  dust  fill  the  air  and  settle 
upon  everything.  Whole  regions,  by  the  means  of 

448 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  449 

extensive  and  destructive  mining  operations,  have  been 
denuded  of  all  verdure,  and  lie  bare  and  unsightly, 
waiting  until  the  slow  processes  of  time,  or  the  more 
expeditious  hand  of  man,  shall  reclaim  them.  But 
mines  have  now  given  place  to  vast  grain  and  cattle 
farms  or  ranches;  and  great  fields  of  golden  grain  and  the 
cattle  on  a  thousand  hills  are  on  either  side  of  the  track. 
If  it  be  later  or  earlier  in  the  year  there  is  a  wealth  of 
bloom  such  as  is  never  dreamed  of  in  the  East.  The 
ground,  sometimes,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  is  brilliant 
with  color,  a  golden  yellow  the  predominating  hue.  In 
the  rainy  season  the  Sacramento  valley,  the  occasional 
victim  of  prolonged  drouth,  is  sometimes  visited  by  a 
freshet,  which  carries  destruction  with  it ;  a  mountain 
torrent,  taking  its  rise  near  the  base  of  Mt.  Shasta,  and 
fed  by  the  snows  of  the  Sierras,  it  is  fitful  in  its 
demeanor.  It  finds  its  outlet  through  San  Francisco 
Bay  and  the  Golden  Gate  to  the  Pacific. 

San  Francisco  is  on  a  peninsula  which  extends  between 
the  bay  of  that  name  and  the  ocean.  Its  site  is  nothing 
more  than  a  collection  of  sand  hills,  which,  before  the 
building  of  the  city,  were  continually  changing  their 
positions.  The  peninsula  is  thirty  miles  long  and  six 
wide,  across  the  city,  which  stands  on  the  eastern  or 
inner  slope. 

San  Francisco  Bay  is  unsurpassed  in  the  world,  except 
by  Puget  Sound,  in  Washington  Territory,  for  size, 
depth,  ease  of  entrance  and  security.  The  entrance  to 
the  bay  is  through  a  passage  five  miles  in  length  and 
about  two  in  width,  with  its  shallowest  depth  about 
thirty  feet  at  low  tide.  Rocks  rise  almost  perpendicu- 
larly on  the  northern  side  of  the  entrance,  to  a  height  of 
three  thousand  feet.  A  lighthouse  is  placed  on  one  of 


450      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

these,  at  Point  Bonita.  Fort  Point,  a  fortress  built  on 
solid  rock,  commands  the  entrance  from  the  south,  and 
beyond  it,  until  San  Francisco  is  reached,  are  a  series  of 
sand  dunes,  some  of  them  white  and  drifting  and  others 
showing  green  with  the  scant  grass  growing  upon  them. 
The  entrance  to  the  bay  is  called  the  Golden  Gate,  a 
name  applied  with  singular  appropriateness,  since 
through  its  portals  have  passed  continuous  streams  of 
gold  since  the  discovery  of  the  latter  in  1848.  Strangely 
enough,  the  name  was  given  before  the  gold  discovery, 
though  at  how  early  a  date  there  seems  no  means  of 
knowing.  As  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  it  first  appears 
in  Fremont's  "  Geographical  Memoir  of  California," 
published  in  1847.  Six  miles  eastward  from  its  entrance 
the  bay  turns  southward  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles, 
forming  a  narrow  peninsula  between  it  and  the  ocean, 
on  the  northeastern  extremity  of  which  the  city  is  built. 
It  also  extends  northward  to  San  Puebla  Bay,  which 
latter  extending  eastward,  connects  by  means  of  a  narrow 
strait  with  Suisun  Bay,  into  which  the  Sacramento  River 
discharges  its  volume  of  water.  These  three  bays 
furnish  ample  and  safe  harborage  for  all  the  merchant 
fleets  of  the  world. 

San  Francisco  Bay  is  about  forty  miles  in  length,  its 
widest  point  being  twelve  miles.  At  Oakland,  directly 
east  of  San  Francisco,  it  is  eight  miles  in  width.  Alcatraz 
Island,  in  the  centre  of  the  channel,  six  miles  from  the 
Golden  Gate,  is  a  solid  rock  rising  threateningly  above 
the  water,  and  bristling  with  heavy  artillery.  It  is 
sixteen  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  width.  Angel  Island  is  directly  north  of 
Alcatraz,  and  four  miles  from  San  Francisco,  contains 
eight  hundred  acres,  and  is  also  fortified.  Midway 


SJ.N  FRANCISCO.  451 

between  San  Francisco  and  Oakland  is  Yerba  Buena,  or 
Goat  Island,  which,  too,  is  held  as  a  United  States 
military  station.  Red  Rock,  Bird  Rock,  the  Two 
Sisters,  and  other  small  islands  dot  the  bay. 

In  1775  the  first  ship  passed  the  portals  of  the  Golden 
Gate,  and  made  its  way  into  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco. 
This  ship  was  the  San  Carlos,  commanded  by  Caspar 
De  Portala,  a  Franciscan  monk  and  Spanish  Governor 
of  Lower  California,  who  set  out  on  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery and  exploration.  The  same  man  had  six  years 
previously  visited  the  sand  hills  of  the  present  site  of 
San  Francisco,  being  the  first  white  man  to  set  his  foot 
upon  them.  Portala  named  the  harbor  San  Francisco, 
after  the  founder  of  his  monastic  order,  St.  Francis*  A 
mission  was  founded  there  six  years  If^er,  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  June,  by  Friars  Francisco  Paloa  and  Bonito 
Cambou,  under  the  direction  of  Father  JuniperoSerra,  who 
had  been  commissioned  by  Father  Portala  as  president  of 
all  the  missions  in  Upper  California.  This  was  the  sixth 
mission  established  in  California,  and  tip  to  the  year 
1800  the  Fathers  labored  with  great  zeal  and  industry, 
had  established  eighteen  missions,  converted  six  hundred 
and  forty-seven  savages,  and  acquired  a  vast  property  in 
lands,  cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  grain.  Presidios  or 
military  stations  were  established  for  the  protection  of 
these  missions,  and  the  Indians  readily  submitted  them- 
selves to  the  Fathers,  and  acquired  the  arts  of  civilization. 

The  Franciscan  friars  continued  complete  sovereigns 
of  the  land  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present 
century,  and  increased  in  worldly  goods.  Mexico 
became  a  republic  in  1824,  and  in  1826  considerably 
curtailed  their  privileges.  In  1845  their  property  was 
finally  confiscated  and  the  missions  broken  up.  The 


452      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

priests  returned  to  Spain ;  the  Indians  to  their  savagery ; 
and  only  the  crumbling  walls  of  their  adobe  houses,  and 
their  decaying  orchards  and  vineyards,  remained  to  tell 
the  tale  of  the  past  history  of  California.  From  that 
period  until  1847  California  was  a  bone  of  contention 
between  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  her  territory 
overrun  by  troops  of  both  nations.  On  the  sixteenth  of 
January,  1847,  the  Spanish  forces  capitulated  to  Fremont, 
and  peace  was  established. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Mission  Dolores,  there  was 
no  settlement  at  San  Francisco  until  1835,  when  a  tent 
was  erected.  A  small  frame  house  was  built  the  follow- 
ing year,  and  on  the  fifteenth  of  April,  1838,  the  first 
white  child  was  born.  The  population  of  San  Francisco, 
then  known  as  Y«ba  Buena,  in  1842  was  one  hundred 
and  ninety-six  persons.  In  1847  it  had  increased  to  four 
hundred  and  fifty-one  persons,  including  whites,  Indians, 
negroes  and  Sandwich  Islanders.  In  March,  1848,  the 
city  contained  two  hundred  houses,  and  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  inhabitants.  In  November  of  the  same  year, 
the  first  steamer,  a  small  boat  from  Sitka,  made  a  trial 
trip  around  the  bay.  In  this  year  the  first  public  school 
and  the  first  Protestant  church  were  established. 

This  year  marked  the  great  era  in  the  history  of  San 
Francisco.  In  the  fall  of  1847,  Captain  John  A.  Sutter, 
a  Swiss  by  birth,  who  had  resided  in  California  since 
1839,  began  erecting  a  saw  mill  at  a  place  called  Colorna, 
on  the  American  River,  a  confluent  of  the  Sacramento, 
about  fifty  miles  east  of  the  city  of  that  name.  James  W. 
Marshall,  who  had  taken  the  contract  for  erecting  the 
mill,  was  at  work  with  his  men  cutting  and  widening  the 
tail-race  when,  on  January  eighteenth,  1848,  he  observed 
some  particles  of  a  yellow,  glittering  substance.  In 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  453 

February  specimens  of  these  findings  were  taken  to  San 
Francisco,  and  pronounced  to  be  gold.  The  truth  being 
soon  confirmed,  the  exodus  to  the  gold  fields  commenced. 
People  in  all  sections  of  California  and  Oregon  forsook 
their  occupations,  and  set  out  for  the  mines.  The  news 
spread,  increasing  as  it  went ;  until  the  reports  grew 
fabulous.  Many  of  the  earliest  miners  acquired  fortunes 
quickly,  and  as  quickly  dissipated  them.  The  journal 
of  Rev.  Walter  Colton,  at  that  time  Alcalde  of  Monte- 
rey, contains  the  following  paragraph,  under  date  of 
August  twelfth,  1848  :— 

"  My  man  Bob,  who  is  of  Irish  extraction,  and  who 
had  been  in  the  mines  about  two  months,  returned  to 
Monterey  about  four  weeks  since,  bringing  with  him 
over  two  thousand  dollars,  as  the  proceeds  of  his  labor. 
Bob,  while  in  my  employ,  required  me  to  pay  him  every 
Saturday  night  in  gold,  which  he  put  into  a  little  leather 
bag  and  sewed  into  the  lining  of  his  coat,  after  taking 
out  just  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  his  weekly  allowance  for 
tobacco.  But  now  he  took  rooms  and  began  to  branch 
out ;  he  had  the  best  horses,  the  richest  viands,  and  the 
choicest  wines  in  the  place.  He  never  drank  himself 
but  it  filled  him  with  delight  to  brim  the  sparkling 
goblet  for  others.  I  met  Bob  to-day,  and  asked  him  how 
he  got  on.  'Oh,  very  well/  he  replied,  'but  I  am  off 
again  for  the  mines.'  'How  is  that,  Bob  ?  you  brought 
down  with  you  over  two  thousand  dollars;  I  hope  you 
have  not  spent  all  that;  you  used  to  be  very  saving; 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  a  week  for  tobacco,  and  the  rest 
you  sewed  into  the  lining  of  your  coat.'  '  Oh,  yes/  replied 
Bob,  '  and  I  have  got  that  money  yet.  I  worked  hard 
for  it,  and  the  devil  can't  get  it  away.  But  the  two 


454      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

thousand  dollars  came  aisily,  by  good  luck,  and  has  gone 
as  aisily  as  it  came ! ' ' 

Reports  of  the  new  El  Dorado  reached  the  States,  and 
during  1849,  from  Maine  to  Louisiana  came  the  gold 
seekers.  From  every  country  in  Europe,  from  Australia 
and  from  China,  additions  were  made  to  the  throng  of 
pilgrims,  who,  by  the  Isthmus,  around  the  Horn,  across 
the  seas,  and  by  the  terrible  journey  overland,  all  rushed 
pell  mell  up  the  Sacramento,  stopping  at  San  Francisco 
only  long  enough  to  find  some  means  of  conveyance. 
We  have  no  space  to  tell  the  story  of  that  time.  Men 
came  and  went.  Some  made  fortunes.  Others  returned 
poorer  than  they  came.  Many  who  attempted  the  over- 
land route  left  their  bones  bleaching  on  the  plains. 
Some  went  back  to  their  homes,  and  others  remained  to 
become  permanent  citizens  of  California.  What  the 
F.  F.  V.s  are  to  Virginia,  and  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to 
Massachusetts,  the  "  Forty-niners,"  a  large  number  of 
whom  still  survive,  will  be,  in  the  future,  to  California. 

During  1848  ten  million  dollars'  worth  of  gold  had 
been  gathered  on  the  Yuba,  American  and  Feather 
rivers.  The  city  of  San  Francisco  had,  in  January, 
1849,  two  thousand  inhabitants,  and  these  were  in  a 
hurry  to  be  off  to  the  mines  as  soon  as  the  rainy  season 
was  over.  Ships  began  to  arrive  from  all  quarters,  and 
July  of  that  year  found  the  flags  of  every  nation  floating 
in  the  bay.  Five  hundred  square-rigged  vessels  lay  in 
the  harbor,  and  everybody  was  scrambling  for  the  mines. 
These  multitudes  of  people,  though  they  thought  only 
of  gold,  yet  had  to  be  fed,  clothed  and  housed  after  a 
fashion.  There  were  no  supplies  adequate  to  the  demand, 
and  provisions  went  up  to  fabulous  prices.  Apples  sold 
for  from  $1  to  $5  apiece,  and  eggs  at  the  same  rates. 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  455 

Laborers  demanded  from  $20  to  $30  for  a  day's  work, 
and  were  scarcely  to  be  had  at  those  figures.  Tiie  miners 
probably  averaged  $25  a  day  at  the  mines,  though  some 
were  making  their  hundreds.  But  at  the  exorbitant 
prices  to  be  paid  for  everything,  few  were  able  to  lay  up 
much  money. 

Late  in  the  year  of  1849  the  reaction  came.  The 
steamers  were  filled  with  downcast  miners,  thankful  that 
they  had  enough  left  to  take  themselves  home.  Others 
having  acquired  something,  stopped  at  San  Francisco, 
and  plunged  into  the  worst  forms  of  dissipation.  The 
city  during  this  and  the  following  year  held  a  carnival 
of  vice  and  crime.  Women  there  were  few  or  none,  save 
of  the  worst  character,  and  gambling  dens,  dance  houses, 
and  drinking  hells  flourished  on  every  street.  In  1850 
a  Vigilance  Committee  was  organized  by  the  better  class 
of  citizens,  which  soon  exercised  a  wholesome  restraint 
upon  the  criminal  classes.  In  the  same  year  California 
was  admitted  to  the  Union  without  the  preliminary  of  a 
Territorial  Government,  and  San  Francisco  was  chartered 
as  a  city.  Courts  were  established,  and  the  lawless 
community  came  under  the  dominion  of  law  and  order. 

By  this  time  the  great  haste  which  seized  everybody 
in  his  eagerness  to  obtain  gold  and  return  home  to  enjoy 
it,  had  somewhat  subsided.  Men  began  to  realize  that 
there  were  other  means  of  making  money  besides 
digging  for  it.  Gardens  were  planted  and  orchards  set 
out,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  apparently  barren 
soil  of  the  State  would  yield  with  a  fruitfulness  unpar- 
alleled in  the  East.  San  Francisco  began  to  be  more 
than  a  canvass  city.  Mud  flats  were  filled  in  and  sand 
hills  leveled,  houses,  hotels  and  stores  erected,  and  a  wild 
speculation  began  in  city  property.  Lots  which  a  few 


456      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

days  before  had  been  purchased  for  two  or  three  thous- 
and dollars,  were  held  at  fifty  thousand  dollars.  A 
canvas  tent,  fifteen  by  twenty  feet,  near  the  plaza,  rented 
for  forty  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  The  Parker 
House,  a  two-story  frame  building  on  Kearney  street,  also 
near  the  plaza,  brought  a  yearly  rent  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  Board  in  a  hotel  or  a  tent  was 
eight  dollars  per  day,  and  provisions  were  proportion- 
ately high.  To  build  a  brick  house  cost  a  dollar  for 
each  brick  used.  Twenty-seven  thousand  people  arrived 
in  San  Francisco,  by  sea  or  land,  during  1850.  In  1853 
thirty-four  thousand  gold  seekers  returned  home,  the 
yield  of  gold  that  year  having  been  $65,000,000,  the 
largest  annual  yield  of  the  State.  The  imports  of  San 
Francisco  in  the  same  year  were  over  $45,000,000.  As 
early  as  this  period  it  was  the  third  city  in  tonnage 
entrances  in  the  United  States,  New  York  and  New 
Orleans  alone  exceeding  it.  In  1856  the  bad  state  of 
public  affairs  again  necessitated  the  interference  of  a 
Vigilance  Committee,  but  since  that  time  the  city  has 
been  orderly. 

San  Francisco  happened  in  its  present  position.  More 
desirable  sites  might  have  been  selected,  but  the  influx 
of  miners  dropped  upon  the  first  spot  convenient  for 
them  to  land,  from  which  to  start  post-haste  to  the 
mines,  and  that  spot  is  indicated  by  the  present  city. 
Owing  to  its  location  its  climate  is  not  in  all  respects 
desirable.  The  general  climate  of  the  coast  is  tempered, 
for  both  summer  and  winter,  by  a  warm  ocean  current, 
which,  flowing  northward  along  the  coast  of  China  and 
Siberia,  takes  a  turn  to  the  south  when  it  reaches 
Alaska,  and  washes  the  western  coast  of  the  continent  of 
America.  It  is  so  warm  that  it  produces  a  marked 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  457 

effect  upon  this  coast,  just  as  the  Gulf  Stream  tempers  the 
climate  of  the  British  Islands.  But  it  has  been  sensibly 
cooled  by  its  proximity  to  Arctic  seas,  and  so  sends  cool 
breezes  to  fan  the  land  during  the  heat  of  summer. 
These  summer  sea  breezes  rushing  through  the  narrow 
opening  of  the  Golden  Gate  become  almost  gales,  and 
bring  both  cold  and  fog  with  them.  The  air  of  winter 
is  mild  and  spring-like.  This  is  the  rainy  season,  but  it 
does  not  rain  continuously.  It  is  the  season  of  verdure 
and  growth,  and  frosts  are  both  slight  and  infrequent  in 
the  latitude  of  San  Francisco.  Not  a  drop  of  rain  falls 
during  the  summer.  The  mornings  are  warm  and 
sometimes  almost  sultry  ;  but  about  ten  o'clock  the  sea 
breeze  springs  up,  growing  more  violent  as  the  day 
advances,  and  frequently  bringing  a  chilly  fog  with  it, 
so  that  by  evening  men  are  glad  to  wrap  themselves  in 
overcoats,  and  women  put  on  their  cloaks  and  furs. 
The  sand,  which  is  still  heaped  in  dunes  to  the  westward 
of  the  city,  and  lies  upon  its  vacant  lots,  is  lifted  and 
whirled  through  the  air,  falling  almost  like  sleet,  and 
stinging  the  faces  of  pedestrians. 

Thunder  storms  are  of  rare  occurrence  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, but  earthquakes  are  exceedingly  numerous.  Prob- 
ably not  a  year  elapses  in  which  slight  shocks  are  not 
felt  in  the  State.  Sometimes  these  shocks  extend  over 
vast  areas,  and  at  other  times  are  merely  local.  On 
October  twenty-first,  1868,  a  severe  earthquake  occurred 
at  San  Francisco,  swaying  buildings  and  throwing  down 
numbers  in  process  of  erection.  The  houses  of  the  city 
are  mostly  built  with  a  view  to  these  disturbances  of 
nature.  The  dwelling  houses  are  seldom  more  than  two 
and  one-half  stories  in  height,  while  the  blocks  of  the 


458      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

business  streets  do  not  display  the  altitude  of  structures 
in  the  eastern  cities. 

The  climate  is  so  mild  and  so  favorable  that  the  pro- 
ductions of  California  embrace  those  of  both  temperate 
and  semi-tropical  latitudes.  The  sand  hills  of  San 
Francisco  were  found,  with  the  help  of  irrigation  to 
produce  plentifully  of  both  fruits  and  flowers,  and  the 
suburbs  of  the  city  display  many  greenhouse  plants 
growing  in  the  open  air.  Roses  bloom  every  month  in 
the  year,  and  strawberries  ripen  from  February  to 
December.  In  San  Francisco  the  mean  temperature  in 
January  is  49°  and  in  June  56°.  The  average  temper- 
ature of  the  year  is  54°. 

The  California  market,  between  Kearney  and  Mont- 
gomery streets,  extending  through  from  Pine  to  Cali- 
fornia streets,  displays  all  the  fruits,  vegetables  and 
grains  of  the  northern  States,  raised  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  city,  while  oranges,  lemons  and 
pomegranates  are  sent  from  further  south.  The  tenderer 
varieties  of  grapes  flourish  in  the  open  air,  and  the  State 
produces  raisins  which  command  a  price  but  little  below 
those  of  Europe.  The  thrift  of  the  fruit  trees  of  Cali- 
fornia is  most  remarkable.  Most  trees  begin  bearing 
on  the  second  year  from  th«  slip  or  graft,  and  produce 
abundantly  at  three  or  four  years  of  age.  Their  growth 
and  the  size  of  their  productions  are  unequaled  on  the 
continent.  The  above  mentioned  market  is  one  of  the 
sights  of  the  city,  and  should  not  be  missed  by  the 
visitor. 

Irrigation  has  been  found  necessary  to  render  the 
sand  hills  about  San  Francisco  productive,  and  wind- 
mills have  become  familiar  objects  in  the  landscape,  their 
long  arms  revolving  in  the  ocean  breeze,  while  little 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  459 

streams  of  water  trickling  here  and  there  vivify  the 
earth.  As  a  result,  though  trees  are  scarce,  what  few 
there  are  being  mostly  stunted  live  oaks,  whose  long 
roots  extend  down  deep  into  the  soil,  there  are  flowers 
everywhere.  On  one  side  of  a  fence  will  be  a  sand-bank, 
white  with  shifting  sand,  on  the  other,  flourishing  in  the 
same  kind  of  soil,  will  be  an  alfresco  conservatory,  bril- 
liant with  color  and  luxuriant  in  foliage. 

Montgomery  street  is  the  leading  thoroughfare,  broad 
and  lined  with  handsome  buildings.  Toward  the  north 
it  climbs  a  hill  so  steep  that  carriages  cannot  ascend  it, 
and  pedestrians  make  their  way  up  by  means  of  a  flight 
of  steps.  From  this  elevation  a  fine  view  is  obtained 
of  the  city  and  bay.  Kearney  and  Market  streets  are 
also  fashionable  promenades,  containing  many  of  the  retail 
stores.  The  principal  banks  and  business  offices  are 
found  on  California  street,  and  the  handsomest  private 
residences  are  on  Van  Ness  avenues,  Taylor,  Bush, 
Sutter,  Leavenworth  and  Folsom  streets,  Clay  street 
Hill  and  Pine  street  Hill.  The  city  extends  far  beyond 
its  original  limits,  having  encroached  upon  the  bay. 
Solid  blocks  no\Y  stand  where,  in  1849,  big  ships  rode  at 
anchor.  It  is  laid  out  with  regularity,  most  of  its  streets 
being  at  right  angles  with  one  another.  The  business 
streets  are  generally  paved  with  Belgian  blocks  or  cobble 
stones,  and  most  of  the  residence  streets  are  planked. 
The  city  does  not  present  the  handsome  and  showy  archi- 
tecture of  many  cities  of  the  east,  though  here  and  there 
are  fine  edifices.  It  is  yet  too  new,  and  too  hurriedly 
built,  to  have  acquired  the  substantiality  and  grand uer 
of  older  cities.  Between  fine  brick  or  stone  structures 
several  stories  high  are  sandwiched  insignificant  wooden 
houses  of  only  two  stories,  the  relics  of  a  past  which  is 


460      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

yet  exceedingly  near  its  present.  The  public  buildings, 
especially  those  belonging  to  the  United  States,  are  fine. 

The  City  Hall  will,  when  finished,  be  surpassed  by 
few  structures  in  the  country.  The  Palace  Hotel,  at  the 
corner  of  Market  and  New  Montgomery  streets,  is  a  vast 
building,  erected  and  furnished  at  a  cost  of  $3,250,000. 
It  is  entered  by  a  grand  court-yard  surrounded  by  colon- 
nades, and  from  its  roof  a  birds-eye  view  of  the  whole  city 
can  be  obtained.  Baldwin's  Hotel,  at  the  corner  of 
Marshall  and  Powell  streets,  is  another  palatial  struc- 
ture, costing  a  quarter  of  a  million  more,  for  building, 
decorating  and  furnishing,  than  the  Palace  Hotel.  The 
Grand  Hotel,  Occidental,  Lick  House,  Russ  House 
and  Cosmopolitan  are  all  established  and  popular 
hotels. 

The  largest  and  finest  church  edifice  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  is  that  of  St.  Ignatius,  Roman  Catholic,  in 
McAlister  street.  The  finest  interior  is  that  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's, also  Roman  Catholic,  in  Mission  street  between 
Third  and  Fourth.  The  First  Unitarian  church,  in 
Geary  street,  is  one  of  the  finest  churches  in  the  city, 
remarkable  for  the  purity  of  its  architectural  design  and 
the  elegance  of  its  finish.  The  Chinese  Mission  House, 
at  the  corner  of  Stockton  and  Sacramento  streets,  will 
prove  interesting  to  strangers.  The  Roman  Catholics, 
who  number  among  their  adherents  all  the  Spanish 
citizens,  make  no  concealment  of  their  intention  to  gain 
a  majority  of  the  population.  But  though  they  are  a 
power.,  in  the  community,  and  have  many  churches, 
the  different  Protestant  sects  are  largely  represented. 
Indeed,  San  Francisco  is  thoroughly  tolerant  in  matter 
of  religion.  Not  only  do  Catholics  and  Protestants  find 
their  own  appropriate  places  of  worship,  but  the  Jews 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  461 

have  two  Synagogues,  and  the  Chinese  Buddhists  three 
Temples  or  Joss  Houses. 

There  is  but  one  road  leading  out  of  the  city,  but 
within  the  city  limits  there  are  many  modes  of  convey- 
ance. Cars  propelled  by  endless  wire  cables,  which 
move  along  the  streets  without  the  assistance  of  either 
horse  or  steam  power,  intersect  the  city  in  every  direc- 
tion. Omnibuses  run  out  on  the  Point  Lobos  road  to 
the  Cliff  House ;  and  he  who  has  not  ridden  or  driven 
thither  and  watched  the  seals  on  Seal  Rock,  has  not  seen 
all  of  San  Francisco.  This  is  the  one  excursion  of  the  city ; 
its  one  pet  dissipation.  Everybody  goes  to  the  Cliff.  A 
drive  of  five  or  six  miles,  on  a  good  road,  over  and  through 
intervening  sand  hills,  brings  the  visitor  to  the  Cliff  House. 
This  road  leads  by  Laurel  Hill,  or  as  it  was  formerly 
called,  Lone  Mountain  Cemetery,  two  and  one-half 
miles  west  of  the  city,  within  whose  inclosure  a  conical 
hill  rises  to  a  considerable  height  above  the  surrounding 
level  country.  On  its  summit  is  a  large  wooden  cross, 
a  prominent  landmark,  and  within  the  cemetery  are 
several  fine  monuments,  conspicuously  that  of  Senator 
Broderick,  and  a  miniature  Pantheon,  marking  the  rest- 
ing place  of  the  Ralston  family.  The  Lone  Mountain 
possesses  an  unrivaled  outlook  over  city,  bay,  ocean  and 
coast  range. 

The  Cliff  House  is  a  large,  low  building,  set  on  the 
edge  of  a  cliff  rising  abruptly  from  the  ocean,  and  facing 
west ;  and  from  it  you  have  a  grand  view  of  the  Golden 
Gate,  while  oceanward  you  strain  your  eyes  to  catch 
some  glimpse  of  China  or  Japan,  which  lie  so  far  away 
in  front  of  you.  But  you  see  instead,  if  the  day  be 
clear,  the  faint  but  bold  outlines  of  the  Farallon  Islands, 


462      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  the  white  sails  of  vessels  passing  in  and  out  of  the 
Golden  Gate. 

Late  in  the  year  of  1876  I  completed  my  horseback 
journey  across  the  continent,  dashing  with  my  horse  into 
the  surf  to  the  westward  of  the  Cliff  House.  A  long 
and  wearisome,  but  at  the  same  time  interesting  and 
reasonably  exciting  ride,  was  at  an  end,  and  after  view- 
ing San  Francisco,  I  was  free  to  enjoy  those  luxuries  of 
modern  civilization,  the  railway  cars,  on  my  homeward 
route. 

The  Farallones  de  los  Frayles  are  six  islets  lifting  up 
their  jagged  peaks  in  picturesque  masses  out  in  the  ocean, 
twenty- three  and  one-half  miles  westward  of  the  Golden 
Gate.  The  largest  Farallon  extends  for  nearly  a  mile 
east  and  west,  and  is  three  hundred  and  forty  feet  high. 
On  its  highest  summit  the  government  has  placed  a 
lighthouse,  and  there  the  light-keepers  live,  sometimes 
cut  off  for  weeks  from  the  shore,  surrounded  by  barren- 
ness and  desolation,  but  within  sight  of  the  busy  life 
which  ebbs  and  flows  through  the  narrow  strait  which 
leads  to  San  Francisco.  These  islands  are  composed  of 
broken  and  water-worn  rocks,  forming  numerous  sharp 
peaks,  and  containing  many  caves.  One  of  these  caves 
has  been  utilized  as  a  fog-trumpet,  or  whistle,  blown  by 
the  force  of  the  waves.  The  mouth-piece  of  a  trumpet 
has  been  fixed  against  the  aperture  of  the  rock,  and  the 
waves  dashing  against  it  with  force  enough  to  crush  a 
ship  to  pieces,  blows  the  whistle.  This  fog  whistle 
ceases  entirely  at  low  water,  and  its  loudness  at  all  times 
depends  upon  the  force  of  the  waves.  The  Farallones 
are  the  homes  of  innumerable  sea  birds,  gulls,  mures, 
shags  and  sea-parrots,  the  eggs  of  the  two  former  being 
regularly  collected  by  eggers,  who  make  a  profitable  busi- 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  463 

ness  of  gathering  them  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  In 
1853  one  thousand  dozen  of  these  eggs,  the  result  of  a  three 
days'  trip,  were  sold  at  a  dollar  a  dozen.  Gathering  the 
eggs  is  difficult  and  not  unattended  by  danger,  as 
precipices  must  be  scaled,  and  the  birds  sometimes  show 
themselves  formidable  enemies.  The  larger  island  is 
also  populated  by  immense  numbers  of  rabbits,  all 
descended  from  a  few  pairs  brought  there  many  years 
ago.  Occasionally  these  creatures,  becoming  too  numer- 
ous for  the  resources  of  the  island,  die  by  hundreds,  of 
starvation.  Though  their  progenitors  were  white,  they 
have  reverted  to  the  original  color  of  the  wild  race. 
The  cliffs  of  these  islands  are  alive  with  seals,  or  sea- 
lions,  as  they  are  called,  which  congregate  upon  their 
sunny  slopes,  play,  bark,  fight  and  roar.  Some  of  them 
are  as  large  as  an  ox  and  seemingly  as  clumsy;  but  they 
disport  themselves  in  the  surf,  which  is  strong  enough 
to  dash  them  in  pieces,  with  the  utmost  ease,  allowing 
the  waves  to  send  them  almost  against  the  rocks,  and 
then  by  a  sudden,  dextrous  movement,  gliding  out  of 
danger. 

The  Cliff  House  has  also  its  sea-lions,  on  Seal  Rock, 
not  far  from  the  hotel,  and  the  visitors  are  never  tired  of 
watching  them  as  they  wriggle  over  the  rocks,  barking 
so  noisily  as  to  be  heard  above  the  breakers.  Formerly 
numbers  of  them  were  shot  by  wanton  sportsmen,  but 
they  are  now  protected  by  law.  "Ben.  Butler"  and 
"General  Grant"  are  two  seals  of  unusual  size,  which 
appear  to  hold  the  remainder  of  the  seal  colony  in  sub- 
jection. If  two  begin  to  fight  and  squabble  about  a 
position  which  each  wants,  either  "  Ben  "  or  the  "  Gen- 
eral "  quickly  settles  the  dispute  by  flopping  the  mal- 
contents overboard.  The  higher  these  creatures  can 


464      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

wriggle  up  the  rocks  the  happier  they  appear  to  be;  and 
when  a  huge  beast  has  attained  a  solitary  peak,  by  dint 
of  much  squirming,  he  manifests  his  satisfaction  by 
raising  his  small  pointed  head  and  complacently  looking 
about  him.  As  soon  as  another  spies  him,  and  can 
reach  the  spot,  a  squabble  ensues,  howls  are  heard,  teeth 
enter  into  the  contest,  the  stronger  secures  the  eminence, 
and  the  weaker  is  ignominously  sent  to  the  humbler  and 
lower  regions. 

An  early  drive  to  and  a  breakfast  at  the  Cliff  House, 
with  a  return  to  the  city  before  the  sea-breeze  begins,  is 
the  favorite  excursion  of  the  San  Franciscan.  The  road 
passes  beyond  this  hotel  to  a  broad,  beautiful  beach,  on 
which,  at  low  tide,  one  can  drive  to  the  Ocean  House,  at 
its  extreme  end,  and  then  return  to  the  city  by  the  old 
Mission  grounds,  which  still  lie  in  its  southwestern 
limits.  The  Mission  building  is  of  adobe,  of  the  old 
Spanish  style,  built  in  1778.  Adjoining  it  is  the  ceme- 
tery, with  its  fantastic  monuments,  and  paths  worn  by 
the  feet  of  the  Mission  fathers  and  their  dusky  penitents. 

The  largest  and  finest  theatre  of  the  city,  and  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  United  States,  is  the  Grand  Opera 
House,  at  the  corner  of  Mission  and  Third  streets.  Four 
other  theatres  and  an  Academy  of  Music,  furnish  amuse- 
ments to  the  residents  of  the  city.  Woodward's  Gardens, 
on  Mission  street  between  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth 
streets,  contains  a  museum,  an  art  galley,  and  a  menag- 
erie. There  are  also  two  Chinese  theatres,  one  at  618 
Jackson  street,  and  the  other  at  625J  Jackson  street. 

The  Chinese  Quarter  of  San  Francisco,  which  has 
become  famous  the  world  over,  occupies  portions  of 
Sacramento,  Commercial,  Dupont,  Pacific  and  Jackson 
streets.  It  is  a  locality  which  no  stranger  should  fail  to 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  465 

see.  Here  he  steps  at  once  into  the  Celestial  Empire. 
Chinamen  throng  the  streets,  dressed  in  their  semi- 
American,  semi-Asiatic  costumes,  the  pig-tail  usually 
depending  behind,  though  sometimes  it  is  rolled  up, 
out  of  sight,  under  the  hat.  The  harsh  gutturals  of  the 
Chinese  language,  nearly  every  word  ending  in  ng,  are 
heard  on  every  hand,  mingled  with  the  grotesque  pigeon 
English.  The  signs  exhibit  Chinese  characters,  and  the 
stores  and  bazaars  are  filled  with  Chinese  merchandise. 

Women  are  scarce  in  this  quarter,  and  only  of  the 
courtezan  class ;  but  here  and  there  one  meets  you,  dressed 
usually  in  Chinese  gown  and  trowsers,  with  hair  arranged 
in  the  indescribable  Chinese  chignon,  and  carrying  a  fan 
— for  all  the  world  as  though  she  had  stepped  off  a  fan 
or  a  saucer-^-and  not  more  immodest  in  demeanor  than 
the  same  class  of  our  eastern  cities.  There  are  few  or 
no  Chinese  wives  in  San  Francisco.  Chinese  immigra- 
tion takes  the  form  of  an  immense  bow,  beginning  at 
China,  stretching  to  the  Pacific  coast  of  America,  and 
retiring  again  to  its  starting  point ;  for  every  Chinaman 
expects  to  return  to  his  native  land,  either  alive  or  dead. 
He  does  not  take  root  in  American  soil.  He  comes 
here  to  make  a  little  money,  leaving  his  family  behind 
him,  and,  satisfied  with  a  very  modest  competence, 
returns  as  he  came.  If  he  dies  here,  his  bones  are 
carried  back,  that  they  may  find  a  resting-place  with 
those  of  his  ancestors.  Therefore  the  women  imported 
ire  for  the  basest  purposes. 

But  to  return  to  this  Chinese  Quarter.  Here  is  the 
St.  Giles  of  London,  the  old  Five  Points  of  New  York 
magnified  and  intensified.  Here  congregate  the  roughest 
and  rudest  elements,  and  here  stand,  shamelessly  revealed, 
crime  and  beastiality  too  vile  to  name.  In  one  cellar 


466     PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

is  a  gambling-hell,  for  John  Chinaman's  besetting  weak- 
ness is  his  love  of  gambling.  The  mode  of  gambling  is 
very  simple,  involving  no  skill,  and  the  stakes  are  small ; 
but  many  a  Celestial  loses  there,  at  night,  his  earnings  of 
the  day.  Near  by  is  an  opium  cellar,  fitted  up  with 
benches  or  shelves,  on  each  of  which  will  be  found  a 
couple  of  Chinamen  lying,  with  a  wooden  box  for  a 
pillow.  While  one  is  preparing  his  opium  and  smoking, 
the  other  is  enjoying  its  full  effects,  in  a  half  stupor.  The 
Chinese  tenement  houses  are  crowded  and  filthy  beyond 
description,  and  the  breeding  places  of  disease  and  crime. 
They  are  scattered  thickly  throughout  the  quarter. 
Their  theatres,  of  which  there  are  two,  already  referred 
to,  have  only  male  performers,  who  personate  both  sexes, 
and  give  what  seems  to  be  passable  acting,  accompanied 
by  the  clash  and  clang  of  cymbals,  the  beating  of  gongs, 
the  sounding  of  trumpets,  and  other  disagreeable  noises 
regarded  by  the  Chinese  as  music.  The  entire  audience 
are  smoking,  either  tobacco  or  opium. 

The  Joss  houses,  or  temples  of  the  Chinese,  are  more 
in  the  nature  of  club  houses  and  employment  bureaus, 
than  of  religious  houses.  The  first  floor  contains  the 
business  room,  smoking  or  lounging  room,  dining  room, 
kitchen,  and  other  offices,  which  are  used  by  the  Emigra- 
tion Company  to  which  the  building  belongs.  The  second 
floor  contains  a  moderate-sized  hall,  devoted  to  religious 

J  o 

rites.  Its  walls  are  decorated  with  moral  maxims  from 
Confucius  and  other  writers,  in  which  the  devotees  are 
exhorted  to  fidelity,  integrity,  and  the  other  virtues. 
The  Joss  or  Josh  is  an  image  of  a  Chinaman,  before 
whom  the  Chinese  residents  of  San  Francisco  are  expected 
to  come  once  a  year  and  burn  slips  of  paper.  Praying 
is  also  done,  but  as  this  is  by  means  of  putting  printed 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  467 

prayers  into  a  machine  run  by  clockwork,  there  is  no 
great  exhaustion  among  the  worshipers. 

The  Chinese  have  no  Sunday,  and  are  ready  to  work 
every  day  of  the  week,  if  they  can  get  paid  for  it.  Their 
only  holiday  is  at  New  Years,  which  occurs  with  them 
usually  in  February,  but  is  a  movable  feast,  when  they 
require  an  entire  week  to  settle  their  affairs,  square  up 
their  religious  and  secular  accounts,  and  make  a  new 
start  in  life.  The  Chinese  have  one  saving  virtue. 
They  pay  their  debts  on  every  New  Year's  day.  If  they 
have  not  enough  to  settle  all  claims  against  them  they 
hand  over  their  assets  to  their  creditors,  old  scores  ar^ 
wiped  out,  and  they  commence  anew. 

The  six  Chinese  Emigration  Companies,  each  repre- 
senting a  Chinese  province,  manage  the  affairs  of  the 
immigrants  with  a  precision,  minuteness  and  care  which 
is  unparalleled  by  any  organization  of  western  civilization. 
Before  the  passage  of  the  anti-Chinese  law,  when  a  ship 
came  into  port  laden  with  Chinamen,  the  agents  of  the 
different  companies  boarded  it,  and  each  took  the  names 
of  those  belonging  to  his  province.  They  provided 
lodgings  and  food  for  the  new  comers,  and  as  quickly  as 
possible  secured  them  employment ;  lent  them  money  to 
go  to  any  distant  point;  cared  for  them  if  they  were  sick 
and  friendless,  and,  finally,  sent  home  the  bones  of  those 
who  died  on  American  shores.  These  companies  settle 
all  disputes  between  the  Chinese,  and  when  a  Chinamen 
wishes  to  return  home,  they  examine  his  accounts,  and 
oblige  him  to  pay  his  just  debts  before  leaving.  The 
means  for  doing  all  this  are  obtained  in  the  shape  of 
voluntary  contributions  from  the  immigrants.  These 
companies  do  not  act  as  employment  bureaus,  for  these 
are  separate  and  thoroughly  organized  institutions. 


468      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

• 

These  latter  farm  out  the  work  of  any  number  of  hands, 
at  the  price  agreed  upon,  furnishing  a  foreman,  with 
whom  all  negotiations  are  transacted,  who,  perhaps,  is 
the  only  one  speaking  English,  and  who  is  responsible 
for  all  the  work. 

The  English  spoken  by  the  Chinese  is  known  as 
"  pigeon  English,"  "  pigeon"  being  the  nearest  approach 
which  a  Chinamen  can  make  to  saying  "  business." 

Most  English  words  are  more  or  less  distorted.  L  is 
always  used  by  them  for  r,  mi  for  I,  and  the  words 
abound  in  terminal  ee's. 

The  Chinese  problem  is  one  which  is  agitating  the 
country  and  giving  a  coloring  to  its  politics.  The 
Pacific  States  seem,  by  a  large  majority  of  their  population, 
to  regard  the  presence  of  the  Mongolian  among  them  as 
an  unmitigated  evil,  to  be  no  longer  tolerated.  Eastern 
capitalists  have  hailed  their  coming  as  inaugurating  the 
era  of  cheap  labor  and  increased  fortunes  for  themselves. 
Hence  the  discussion  and  the  disturbances.  A  lady  who 
had  made  her  home  in  San  Francisco  for  several  years 
past,  says,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer  of  this  article,  "  A 
person  not  living  in  California  can  form  no  conception 
of  the  curse  which  the  Chinese  are  to  this  section  of  the 
world." 

Yet  without  them  some  of  the  great  enterprises  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  notably  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  would 
have  remained  long  unfinished ;  and  they  came  also  to 
furnish  manual  labor  at  a  time  when  it  was  scarce  and 
difficult  to  obtain  at  any  price.  The  Chinaman  is  a 
strange  compound  of  virtue  and  vice,  cleanliness  and 
filth,  frugality  and  recklessness,  simplicity  and  cunning. 
He  is  scrupulously  clean  as  to  his  person,  indulging  in 
frequent  baths ;  yet  he  will  live  contentedly  with  the 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  469 

most  wretched  surroundings,  and  inhale  an  air  vitiated 
by  an  aggregation  of  breaths  and  stenches  of  all  kinds. 
He  is  a  faithful  worker  and  a  wonderful  imitator.  He 
cannot  do  the  full  work  of  a  white  man,  but  he  labors 
steadily  and  unceasingly.  He  takes  no  time  for  drunken 
sprees,  but  he  is  an  inveterate  opium  smoker,  and  some- 
times deliberately  sacrifices  his  life  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  drug.  He  is  frugal  to  the  last  degree,  but  will 
waste  his  daily  earnings  in  the  gambling  hell  and  policy 
shop.  Scrupulously  honest,  he  is  yet  the  victim  of  the 
vilest  vices  which  are  engrafting  themselves  upon  our 
western  coast.  laving  upon  one-third  of  what  will 
keep  a  white  man,  and  working  for  one-half  the  wages 
the  latter  demands,  he  is  destroying  the  labor  market  of 
that  quarter  of  our  country,  reducing  its  working  classes 
to  his  own  level,  in  which  in  the  future  the  latter,  too, 
will  be  forced  to  be  contented  on  a  diet  of  "  rice  and  rats," 
and  to  forego  all  educational  advantages  for  their  chil- 
dren, becoming,  like  the  Chinese  themselves,  mere 
working  machines ;  or  else  enter  into  a  conflict*  of  labor 
against  labor,  race  against  race. 

The  latter  alternative  seems  inevitable,  and  it  has 
already  begun.  China,  with  her  crowded  population, 
could  easily  spare  a  hundred  million  people  and  be  the 
better  for  it.  Those  one  hundred  million  Chinamen,  if 
welcomed  to  our  shores,  would  speedily  swamp  our 
western  civilization.  They  might  not  become  the  con- 
trolling power — the  Anglo-Saxon  is  always  sure  to 
remain  that — but  as  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of 
water,  as  builders  of  our  railroads,  hands  upon  our 
farms,  workers  in  our  factories,  and  cooks  and  chamber- 
maids in  our  houses,  a  like  number  of  American  men 
and  women  would  be  displaced,  and  wages  quickly 


470      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

reduced  to  an  Asiatic  level ;  and  such  a  time  of  distress 
as  this  country  never  saw  would  dawn  upon  us. 

There  seems  to  be  no  assimilation  between  the  Cauca- 
sian and  the  Mongolian  on  the  Pacific  slope.  In  the 
East  an  Irish  girl  recently  married  a  Chinaman ;  but  in 
San  Francisco,  though  every  other  race  under  the  sun  has 
united  in  marriage,  the  Chinaman  is  avoided  as  a  pariah. 
White  and  yellow  races  may  meet  and  fraternize  in 
business,  in  pleasure,  and  even  in  crime ;  but  in  mar- 
riage never.  Chinamen  rank  among  the  most  respected 
merchants  of  San  Francisco,  and  these  receive  excep- 
tional respect  as  individuals;  but  between  the  two  races 
as  races  a  great  gulf  is  fixed.  The  Chinese  immigrant 
takes  no  interest  in  American  affairs.  His  world  is  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Pacific.  And  the  American  people 
return  the  compliment  by  taking  no  interest  in  him.  It 
is  undeniable  that,  by  a  certain  class  of  San  Francisco 
citizens,  popularly  known  as  Hoodlums,  the  treatment 
of  the  Chinese  population  has  been  shameful  in  the 
extreme.  A  Chinaman  has  no  rights  which  a  white 
man  is  bound  to  respect.  Insult,  contumely,  abuse, 
cruelty  and  injustice  he  has  been  forced  to  bear  at  the 
hands  of  the  rougher  classes,  without  hope  of  redress. 
He  has  been  kicked,  and  cheated,  and  plundered,  and 
not  a  voice  has  been  raised  in  his  behalf;  but  if  he  has 
been  guilty  of  the  slightest  peccadillo,  how  quickly  has 
he  been  made  to  feel  the  heavy  hand  of  justice! 

It  seems  a  pity  that  before  the  cry  was  raised  with 
such  overwhelming  force,  "  The  Chinese  must  go ! " 
some  little  effort  had  not  been  made  to  adapt  them  to 
Western  civilization.  They  are  quick  to  take  ideas 
concerning  their  labor ;  why  not  in  other  things  ?  We 
have  received  and  adopted  the  ignorant,  vicious  hordes 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  471 

from  foreign  lands  to  the  east  of  us,  and  are  fast  meta-- 
morphosing  them  into  intelligent,  useful  citizens.  We 
are  even  trying  our  hand  upon  the  negro,  as  a  late 
atonement  for  all  the  wrong  we  have  done  him.  But  the 
Indian  and  the  Chinaman  seem  to  be  without  the  pale  of 
our  mercy  and  our  Christianity.  It  might  not  have 
been  possible,  but  still  the  experiment  was  worth  the 
trying,  of  attempting  to  lift  them  up  industrially, 
educationally  and  morally,  to  a  level  with  our  own  better 
classes,  instead  of  permitting  them  to  drag  us  down. 
Returning  to  their  own  country,  and  carrying  back  with 
them  our  Western  civilization,  as  a  little  leaven,  they 
might  have  leavened  the  whole  lump.  It  is  too  late  for 
that  now,  and  the  mandate  has  gone  forth :  "  The  Chi- 
nese must  go ! "  Considering  all  things  as  they  are, 
rather  than  as  they  might  have  been,  it  is  undoubtedly 
better  so,  and  the  only  salvation  of  our  Pacific  States. 

San  Francisco  had,  in  1880,  .a  population  of  232,956. 
The  commerce  is  very  large,  and  must  every  year  increase 
as  the  West  is  built  up.  The  chief  articles  of  export 
are  the  precious  metals,  breadstuff's,  wines  and  wool. 
She  has  important  manufactures,  embracing  watches, 
carriages,  boots  and  shoes,  furniture,  iron  and  brass 
works,  silver  ware,  silk  and  woolen.  California  seems 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  silk  industry,  and  her  silk 
manufactures  will  probably  assume  marked  importance  in 
the  future.  The  wonderful  climate  and  unequaled 
productiveness  are  constantly  attracting  immigration, 
and  the  Pacific  Central,  which  spans  the  continent,  has 
vastly  improved  on  the  old  methods  of  travel  by  caravan 
across  the  plains  and  over  the  mountains. 

The  population  of  San  Francisco  is  cosmopolitan  to 
the  last  degree,  and  embraces  natives  of  every  clime  and 


472      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

nearly  every  nation  on  the  globe.  Yet  in  spite  of  this 
strange  agglomeration  she  is  intensely  Yankee  in  her 
go-ahead-ativeness,  with  Anglo-Saxon  alertness  intensi- 
fied. In  fact,  as  San  Francisco  is  on  the  utmost  limits 
of  the  West,  beyond  which  there  is  nothing  but  a  vast 
expanse  of  water  until  we  begin  again  at  the  East,  so 
she  represents  the  superlative  of  Anglo-Saxon  enterprise 
and  American  civilization,  and  looks  to  a  future  which 
shall  justify  her  past. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

SAVANNAH.  * 

First  Visit  to  Savannah. — Camp  Davidson. — The  City  During  th« 
War. — An  Escaped  Prisoner. — Recapture  and  Final  Escape. — 
A  "City  of  Refuge." — Savannah  by  Night. — Position  of  the 
City. — Streets  and  Public  Squares. — Forsyth  Park. — Monu- 
ments.— Commerce. — View  from  the  Wharves. — Railroads. — 
Founding  of  the  City. — Revolutionary  History. — Death  of 
Pulaski. — Secession. — Approach  of  Sherman. — Investment  of 
the  City  by  Union  Troops. — Recuperation  After  the  War. — 
Climate. — Colored  Population. — Bonaventure,  Thunderbolt,  and 
Other  Suburban  Resorts. 

MY  first  visit  to  Savannah  was  made  on  the  twenty- 
ninth  of  July,  1864,  when  I  was  brought  there 
as  a  prisoner  of  war.  I  found  the  city  with  its  business 
enterprises  in  a  state  of  stagnation,  and  the  streets 
thronged  with  soldiers  in  Confederate  uniforms.  About 
four  thousand  troops  were  doing  garrison  duty  in  the 
city,  which  was  thronged  with  refugees,  and  the  entire 
population  suffering  from  the  paralyzation  of  all  indus- 
trial enterprises,  and  from  the  interruption  of  its  com- 
merce by  the  Federal  blockade  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Camp  Davidson,  where  we  were  confined,  was  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  city,  near  the  Marine  Hospital,  with 
Pulaski's  Monument  in  full  view,  to  the  westward. 

The  camp  was  surrounded  by  a  stockade  and  dead- 
line, and  the  principal  amusement  and  occupation  of  the 
prisoners  was  the  digging  of  a  tunnel  which  was  to 
conduct  them  to  liberty  beyond  the  second  line  of  senti- 
nels, without  the  stockade.  But  our  little  camp,  like 

473 


474      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Chicago,  had  a  cow  for  an  evil  genius.  This  luckless 
creature  broke  through  the  tunnel,  as  it  was  nearing 
completion,  and  suddenly  ended  it  and  our  hopes  together. 
The  nearest  Union  forces  were  at  Pulaski,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Savannah  River,  and  Savannah  was  one  of  the 
most  important  military  posts  of  the  Confederate  army. 
Our  treatment  at  Camp  Davidson  was  exceptionally  kind 
and  considerate,  and  the  ladies  of  the  city,  in  giving 
suitable  interment  to  the  remains  of  a  Union  officer  who 
had  died  in  the  camp,  proved  themselves  to  be  possessed 
of  generous  hearts.  Therefore  it  was  with  regret  that 
we  received  the  order  to  leave  Savannah  for  Charleston. 
••"I  next  visited  Savannah  a  few  months  later,  when  the 
war  was  drawing  to  a  close,  after  General  Sherman  and 
his  army  had  made  their  successful  entrance  into  the 
town.  On  the  sixteenth  of  December,  myself  and  a  com- 
panion found  ourselves  twenty  miles  from  Savannah,  after 
having  been  many  weeks  fugitives  from  "  Camp  Sorg- 
hum," the  prison-pen  at  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  We 
were  on  the  Savannah  River  Road,  over  which  Kilpat- 
rick's  Cavalry  and  the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps  had  passed 
only  a  week  before.  Emboldened  by  our  successes  and 
hairbreadth  escapes  of  three  weeks,  when  we  at  last  felt  that 
deliverance  was  close  at  hand,  we  pursued  our  way,  only 
to  fall  suddenly  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Hope 
deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick.  But  who  shall  describe 
the  terrible  sinking  of  the  heart — the  worse  than  sick- 
ness— when  hope  is  thus  suddenly  crushed  and  turned 
to  certain  despair  ?  Our  second  captivity  was  not,  how- 
ever, of  long  duration.  Death  was  preferable  to  bondage 
under  such  masters.  Taking  our  lives  in  our  hands,  a 
second  escape  was  effected,  and  on  December  twenty- 
third,  but  two  days  after  Sherman's  occupancy  of  the 


SAVANNAH.  475 

city,  Savannah  proved  itself,  indeed,  a  city  of  refuge. 
Union  troops  welcomed  us  with  open  arms,  and  we  were 
soon  despatched  northward. 

The  traveler  who  visits  Savannah  to-day  will  view  it 
under  very  different  auspices.  The  white  wings  of 
peace  have  brooded  over  it  for  more  than  half  a  genera- 
tion, loyalty  has  taken  the  place  of  treason  in  the  hearts 
of  her  people,  and  prosperity  is  visible  on  her  streets  and 
wharves.  Let  him,  if  he  can,  approach  the  city  from 
the  sea,  and  by  night.  Fort  Pulaski  stands  like  a  senti- 
nel guarding  the  entrance  to  the  harbor,  the  lighthouse 
upon  the  point  keeping  a  bright  eye  out  to  seaward.  As 
he  glides  up  the  river,  which  winds  in  countless  lagoons 
around  low  sea  islands  covered  with  salt  marshes,  at  last 
he  will  see  in  the  distance  the  lights  of  the  city  set  on  a 
hill,  and  of  the  shipping  at  her  feet.  A  distant  city  is 
always  beautiful  at  night,  though  it  may  be  hideous  by 
daylight.  Night  veils  all'  its  ugliness  in  charitable 
shadows;  it  reveals  hitherto  unseen  beauties  of  outline, 
crowns  it  with  a  tiara  of  sparkling  gems,  and  enwraps 
the  whole  scene  in  an  air  of  romance  and  mystery  which 
is  charming  to  the  person  of  poetic  nature.  But  whether 
seen  by  night  or  day,  Savannah  is  indeed  a  beautiful  city, 
probably  the  most  beautiful  in  all  the  Southern  States. 

The  Savannah  River  winds  around  Hutchinson  Island, 
and  the  city  is  built  in  the  form  of  an  elongated  crescent, 
about  three  miles  in  length,  on  its  southern  shore.  It 
is  on  a  bluff  about  forty  feet  above  the  stream,  this  bluff 
being  about  a  mile  wide  at  its  eastern  end,  and  broaden- 
ing as  it  extends  westward.  Surrounding  it  are  the  low 
lands  occupied  by  market  gardens,  for  Savannah  is  a 
great  place  for  market  gardeners,  and  helps  to  supply 
the  northern  market  in  early  spring. 


476      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  streets  of  Savannah  are  laid  out  east  and  west, 
nearly  parallel  to  the  river,  with  others  crossing  them  at 
right  angles,  north  and  south.  They  are  wide,  and 
everywhere  shaded  with  trees,  many  of  the  latter  being 
live  oaks,  most  magnificent  specimens  of  which  are  found 
in  the  city.  Orange  trees  also  abound,  with  their  fragrant 
blossoms  and  golden  fruit,  stately  palmettoes,  magnolias 
and  oleander,  rich  in  bloom,  bays  and  cape  myrtles. 

The  streets  running  north  and  south  are  of  very  nearly 
uniform  width,  every  alternate  street  passing  on  either 
side  of  a  public  square,  which  are  bounded  on  the  north 
and  south  by  narrow  streets  running  east  and  west,  and 
intersected  in  the  centre  by  a  wide  street  taking  the  same 
direction.  These  public  squares,  twenty-four  in  number, 
and  containing  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  acres,  are  a 
marked  feature  of  the  city.  They  are  placed  at  regular 
intervals,  as  already  described,  are  handsomely  inclosed, 
laid  out  with  walks,  shaded  with  evergreen  and  orna- 
mental trees,  and  in  the  spring  and  summer  months  are 
green  with  grass.  In  a  number  of  these  are  monuments, 
while  others  contain  fountains  or  statuary.  These  squares 
or  plazas  are  surrounded  with  fine  residences,  each  having 
its  own  little  yard,  beautiful  with  flowers,  vines,  shrub- 
bery and  trees.  In  these  premises  roses  thrive  and  bloom 
with  a  luxuriance  unknown  in  the  North,  and  the  stately 
Camelia  Japonica,  the  empress  among  flowers,  grows 
here  to  a  height  of  twelve  or  fifteen  feet,  and  blossoms  in 
midwinter.  Savannah,  the  most  beautiful  city  of  the 
South,  if  not  in  the  United  States,  is  more  like  the 
wealthy  suburbs  of  some  large  city,  than  like  a  city  itself. 
It  is  embowered  in  trees,  which  are  green  the  whole  year 
around ;  and  shares  with  Cleveland,  its  northern  riva' 
•n  beauty,  the  soubriquet  of  the  "  Forest  City." 


SAVANNAH.  477 

Forsyth  Park,  originally  laid  out  in  the  southern 
suburbs  of  the  city,  is  now  the  centre  of  a  populous 
quarter,  abounding  in  handsome  edifices.  Many  of  the 
original  trees,  the  beautiful  southern  pines,  are  left 
standing  in  this  park,  and  other  trees  and  shrubbery 
added.  Sphynxes  guard  the  Bull  street  entrance,  and  in 
the  centre  of  the  old  park,  which  was  ten  acres  in  extent,  is 
a  handsome  fountain,  modeled  after  that  in  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde,  in  Paris.  This  fountain  is  surrounded  by 
a  profusion  of  flowers,  while  shelled  walks  furnish  path- 
ways through  the  park.  It  has  recently  been  increased 
in  dimensions  to  thirty  acres ;  in  the  centre  of  the  new 
or  western  portion  stands  a  stately  monument  in  honor 
of  the  Confederate  dead. 

Pulaski  Monument  stands  in  Monterey  Square,  the 
first  plaza  to  the  northward  of  Forsyth  Park.  The  steps 
of  the  monument  are  of  granite,  and  the  shaft  of  fine 
white  marble,  fifty-five  feet  high,  surmounted  by  a  statue 
of  Liberty  holding  the  national  banner.  This  monu- 
ment covers  the  spot  where,  in  1779,  Count  Pulaski 
fell,  during  an  attack  upon  the  city,  while  it  was  occupied 
by  the  British.  In  Johnson  Square,  the  first  square 
south  of  the  river  intersected  by  Bull  street,  is  a  fine 
Druid  obelisk,  erected  to  the  memory  of  General 
Greene  and  Count  Pulaski.  The  corner-stone  of  this 
obelisk  was  laid  in  1825,  by  Lafayette,  during  his  visit 
to  America. 

Savannah  was  founded  in  1733,  by  General  James 
Oglethorpe,  whose  plan  has  been  followed  in  its  subse- 
quent erection.  Upon  each  of  the  twenty-four  squares 
were  originally  left  four  large  lots,  known  as  "trust  lots," 
two  on  the  east  and  two  on  the  west.  We  are  told  by 
Mr.  Francis  Moore,  who  wrote  in  1736,  that  "the  use 


478      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  this  is,  in  case  a  war  should  happen,  the  villages 
without  may  have  places  in  town  to  bring  their  cattle 
and  families  into  for  refuge;  and  for  that  purpose  there 
is  a  square  left  in  every  ward,  big  enough  for  the  out- 
wards to  encamp  in."  These  lots  are  now  occupied  by 
handsome  churches,  conspicuous  public  buildings,  and 
palatial  private  residences,  thus  securing  to  all  the 
squares  a  uniform  elegance  which  they  might  otherwise 
have  lacked. 

Bay  street  is  the  great  commercial  street  of  the  city. 
It  is  an  esplanade,  two  hundred  feet  wide,  upon  the  brow 
of  the  cliff  overlooking  the  river.  Its  southern  side  is 
lined  with  handsome  stores  and  offices.  At  the  corner  of 
Bay  and  Bull  streets  is  the  Custom  House,  with  the 
Post  Office  in  the  basement.  Its  northern  side  is  occupied 
by  the  upper  stories  of  warehouses,  which  are  built  at* 
the  foot  of  the  steep  cliff  fronting  the  river.  These 
upper  stories  are  connected  with  the  bluff  by  means  of 
wooden  platforms,  which  form  a  sort  of  sidewalk,  span- 
ning a  narrow  and  steep  roadway,  which  leads  at 
intervals,  by  a  series  of  turns,  down  to  the  wharves  below. 
Long  flights  of  steps  accommodate  pedestrians  in  the  same 
descent.  The  warehouses  just  spoken  of  are  four  or 
five  stories  high  on  their  river  fronts,  and  but  one  or  two 
on  the  Bay. 

One  should  walk  along  the  quay  below  the  city  to 
gain  a  true  idea  of  the  extent  of  its  commerce.  Here, 
in  close  proximity  to  the  wharves,  are  located  the 
cotton  presses  and  rice  mills.  Here  everything  is  dirty 
and  dismal,  evidently  speaking  of  better  days.  The 
beauty  of  the  city  is  all  above.  The  buildings  are  some 
of  them  substantially  built  of  brick,  but  begin  to  show 
the  ravages  of  time.  There  is  an  old  archway,  which 


SAVANNAH.  479 

once  had  pretensions  of  its  own,  but  the  wall  has  fallen 
away,  and  it  is  now  an  entrance  to  nowhere.  Yet  in 
spite  of  this  general  dilapidation,  there  is  all  the  bustle 
and  activity  of  a  full  commercial  life.  The  wharves  are 
piled  with  cotton  bales,  which  have  found  a  temporary 
landing  here,  awaiting  shipment  to  the  North,  or  perhaps 
across  the  sea.  For  Savannah  is  the  second  cotton  port 
in  the  United  States.  But  cotton  is  not  its  only  export. 
It  is  the  great  shipping  depot  for  Southern  produce 
bound  for  Northern  markets.  Some  sheds  are  filled 
with  barrels  of  rosin,  while  great  quantities  of  rosin 
litter  the  ground.  From  others  turpentine  in  great 
quantities  is  shipped  to  various  ports.  The  lumber 
trade  of  the  city  is  immense,  the  pine  forests  of  Georgia 
furnishing  an  apparently  inexhaustible  supply.  The 
city  is  also  in  the  centre  of  the  rice-growing  region,  and 
sends  its  rice  to  feed  the  North.  Steamships  from  all 
the  Atlantic  ports  lie  along  its  wharves,  while  those  of 
foreign  nations  are  by  no  means  scarce.  Vessels  of  too 
large  a  draft  to  lie  alongside  the  wharves  discharge  and 
load  their  freight  three  miles  below  the  city. 

The  view  from  the  river  front  is  over  the  river  itself, 
filled  with  craft  of  all  sorts,  from  the  tiny  ferry  boat 
up  to  the  immense  ocean  steamer,  across  to  Hutchinson's 
Island  and  the  Carolina  shore.  The  island,  which  is 
two  miles  long  by  one  wide,  has  upon  it  numerous  lumber 
yards  and  a  large  dry  dock.  Rice  was  formerly  culti- 
vated upon  it,  but  is  now  forbidden  by  law,  because  of 
its  unhealthfulness.  The  river  is  about  seven  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  wide  in  front  of  the  city,  with  a  depth 
of  water  at  the  wharves  varying  from  thirteen  to  twenty- 
one  feet.  The  portion  of  South  Carolina  visible  is  low 
and  flat,  dotted  here  and  there  with  palmetto  trees. 


480      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

There  is  little  of  the  picturesque  about  this  river  view 
except  the  busy  life,  which  keeps  in  constant  motion. 

Savannah  has  extensive  railroad  connection  with  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  She  has  direct  communica- 
tion by  rail  with  Vicksburg  on  the  Mississippi.  She 
also  offers  an  outlet,  by  means  of  railroads,  for  the 
products  of  Georgia,  Florida,  and  portions  of  Alabama 
and  Tennessee.  She  has  unbroken  railroad  connection 
with  Memphis,  Mobile,  Cincinnati,  Louisville,  and  the 
principal  commercial  cities  of  the  West  and  North. 
Her  water  communication  is  established  with  all  the 
great  Northern  and  Southern  seaboard  cities.  Her 
harbor  is  one  of  the  best  and  safest  on  the  South  Atlantic 
coast,  and  she  is  the  natural  eastern  terminus  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  being  almost  on  the  same 
parallel  of  latitude  with  San  Diego,  its  western  terminus. 

The  corporate  limits  of  Savannah  extend  backward  from 
the  river  about  one  and  one-half  miles,  and  embrace  a 
total  area  of  three  and  one-half  square  miles,  but  addi- 
tions are  fast  being  made  to  the  southward,  which  will, 
in  time,  greatly  extend  its  area,  and  add  to  the  popula- 
tion, which,  in  1880,  was  30,681  inhabitants. 

Savannah's  history  goes  back  to  the  early  days  of  the 
colonies.  Its  site  marks  the  first  settlement  in  Georgia. 
General  Oglethorpe,  with  a  hundred  and  fourteen  men, 
women  and  children,  having  landed  at  Charleston, 
in  January,  1733,  sailed  from  that  port  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  provisions  and  a  small  body  of  troops  for 
their  protection,  and  landed  on  Yamacraw  Bluff,  on  the 
Savannah  River,  eighteen  miles  from  its  mouth.  On 
the  bluff  General  Oglethorpe  laid  ouf  a  town  and  called 
it  Savannah,  and  by  the  ninth  of  February  the  colony 
commenced  the  erection  of  buildings.  The  colony  sur- 


SAVANNAS.  481 

vived  various  haps  and  mishaps  until  1776,  when,  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  British  attacked  the  city, 
but  were  repulsed.  On  December  twenty-ninth,  1778, 
they  made  a  second  attack,  surprised  the  American  forces, 
who  attempted  to  fly,  but  were  mostly  killed  or  cap- 
tured. On  the  morning  of  October  fourth,  1779,  the 
American  and  French  troops  made  a  direct  assault  upon 
Savannah,  attempting  to  take  it  from  the  British,  but 
were  obliged  to  retire  with  heavy  loss.  Count  Pulaski, 
a  Polish  nobleman,  who  had  been  expatriated  for  par- 
ticipating in  the  carrying  off  of  King  Stanislaus  from 
his  capital,  was  wounded  in  this  battle,  and  soon  after- 
wards died.  Pulaski  Monument,  as  already  stated,  was 
erected  on  the  spot  where  he  fell. 

Savannah  received  its  city  charter  in  1788.  In  1850 
it  had  a  little  more  than  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  in  1860,  22,292.  When  Secession  cast  its  shadow 
upon  the  sunny  South,  it  fell  like  a  pall  upon  Savan- 
nah, no  less  than  upon  the  other  Southern  cities.  All 
her  business  was  suspended,  and  grass  grew  in  her 
streets.  On  the  northeast  corner  of  Bull  and  Broughton 
streets  stands  the  building  known  as  Masonic  Hall, 
where,  on  January  twenty-first,  1861,  the  Ordinance  of 
Secession  was  passed.  On  the  sixteenth  of  March  the 
State  Convention  assembled  in  Savannah,  adopted  the 
Constitution  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
Georgia  being  the  second  State  to  adopt  this  Constitu- 
tion without  submitting  it  to  the  people.  The  mouth  of 
the  river  was  blockaded  by  United  States  gunboats,  and 
all  commerce  prevented.  On  April  fifteenth,  1862, 
Fort  Pulaski  was  captured  by  the  Federal  troops,  and 
great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  <dty.  Women  and 


482      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

children  left  the  city,  and  property  and  furniture  were 
sent  into  the  interior. 

During  the  following  years  a  number  of  unsuccessful 
attempts  were  made  by  the  Union  naval  forces  to 
capture  the  city.  In  December,  1864,  Sherman  was 
making  his  famous  march  to  the  sea,  and  was  steadily 
drawing  nearer  the  city,  while  southern  chivalry  fled 
before  him,  and  the  now  emancipated  slaves  gathered 
and  rolled  in  his  rear  like  a  sable  cloud.  On  the  twen- 
tieth, heavy  siege  guns  were  put  in  position  by  his 
forces  between  Kingsbridge  and  the  city ;  and  General 
Hardee,  suddenly  awakened  to  a  sense  of  the  danger 
which  menaced  them,  set  his  troops  hurriedly  to  work  to 
destroy  the  navy  yard  and  government  property ;  while 
the  ironclads,  the  "Savannah"  and  "Georgia,"  were 
making  a  furious  fire  on  the  Federal  left,  the  garrison, 
under  cover  of  the  darkness  and  the  confusion,  was 
transported  on  the  first  stage  of  their  journey  to  Charles- 
ton. Before  leaving,  they  blew  up  the  iron  clads  and 
the  fortifications  below  the  city.  On  the  twenty-first, 
General  Sherman  received  a  formal  surrender  from  the 
municipal  authorities.  On  the  following  day,  the  twen- 
ty-second, he  sent  a  dispatch  to  the  President,  presenting 
him,  "as  a  Christmas  gift,  the  city  of  Savannah."  On 
December  twenty-eighth,  1864,  Masonic  Hall,  already 
historical,  witnessed  a  gathering  of  loyal  citizens  cele- 
brating the  triumph  of  the  Union  army.  Sherman, 
when  he  entered  the  city,  encamped  his  forces  on  the 
still  vacant  "  trust  lots."  This  triumphant  conclusion 
of  Sherman's  march  from  Atlanta  broke  the  backbone 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  was  the  prelude  to  the  down- 
fall of  Richmond  and  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army. 


SAVANNAH.  483 

Prosperity  eventually  followed  in  the  wake  of  peace. 
The  blockade  lifted,  the  deserted  wharves  were  soon 
filled  with  the  shipping  of  all  nations.  Her  silent  and 
empty  streets  grew  noisy  and  populous  with  the  rush  of 
business,  and  Savannah  is  now  one  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous of  our  Southern  cities.  Her  architecture  is  not 
striking  for  either  its  beauty  or  its  grandeur;  neverthe- 
less she  has  many  fine  public  and  private  buildings. 
The  City  Exchange  is  one  of  the  former,  and  it  also 
possesses  a  historical  interest,  General  Sherman  having 
reviewed  his  troops  in  front  of  it  in  his  investment  of 
the  city.  From  its  tower  the  best  view  of  the  city  and 
neighborhood  may  be  obtained.  The  Court  House,  the 
United  States  and  Police  Barracks,  Artillery  Armory, 
Jail,  Chatham  Academy  and  St.  Andrews'  Hall,  are  all 
conspicuous  buildings.  The  Georgia  Historical  Society 
has  a  large  and  beautiful  hall,  with  a  fine  library  and 
interesting  relics.  St.  John's  and  Christ's  Episcopal 
churches,  the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral,  are  all  striking  edifices. 
Trinity  Church,  in  Johnson  Square,  is  near  the  spot 
where  John  Wesley  delivered  his  famous  sermons. 
Wesley  visited  Savannah  in  its  early  days,  having  been 
invited  thither  by  Oglethorpe.  At  Bethesda,  about  ten 
miles  from  the  city,  where  the  Union  Farm  School  is 
now  located,  was  the  site  of  the  Orphan  House  estab- 
lished in  1740  by  Whitefield,  Wesley's  contemporary 
and  companion. 

The  benevolent,  literary  and  educational  institutions 
of  Savannah  are  numerous  and  well  sustained,  some  of 
them  being  among  the  oldest  in  the  country.  The 
Union  Society,  for  the  support  of  orphan  boys,  and  the 
Female  Society,  for  orphan  girls,  were  founded  in  1 750. 


484      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Savannah  is  situated  just  above  the  32d  parallel  of 
latitude,  and  possesses  a  mean  temperature  of  66°  Fahr. 
Being  within  the  influence  of  the  Gulf  Stream  it  enjoys 
all  the  mildness  of  the  tropics  in  winter,  while  the 
summers  are  less  oppressive  than  at  New  York  or 
Washington.  It  is  a  favorite  resort  for  northern  invalids, 
being  comparatively  free  from  malarious  fevers  and 
pulmonary  diseases. 

Colored  people  abound  in  Savannah,  constituting  about 
three-eighths  of  the  entire  population.  They  do  most 
of  the  menial  work  of  the  city,  being  laborers,  waiters  in 
the  hotels  and  public  houses,  and  stevedores  upon  the 
wharves.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  the  number  of  colored 
men  it  takes  to  load  and  set  afloat  a  steamship ;  and  one 
of  the  last  sights  which  meets  the  eye  of  the  traveler  and 
lingers  in  his  memory,  as  he  leaves  the  city  by  means 
of  the  river,  is  the  long  row  of  upturned  black  faces, 
most  of  them  beaming  with  good  humor  and  jollity,  on 
the  wharf,  as  the  vessel  casts  off  her  lines  and  turns  her 
head  down  stream. 

Savannah  possesses  certain  famous  suburban  attractions, 
without  seeing  which  the  traveler  can  scarcely  say  he  has 
seen  the  city.  In  a  bend  of  the  Warsaw  River,  a  short 
distance  from  its  junction  with  the  Savannah,  and  about 
four  miles  from  the  city,  is  the  famous  Bonaventure 
Cemetery.  A  hundred  years  ago  this  was  the  country 
seat  of  a  wealthy  English  gentleman,  who,  upon  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter,  made  her  a  wedding  present  of 
the  estate.  The  grounds  were  laid  out  in  wide  avenues, 
and  shaded  by  live  oaks,  and  the  initials  of  the  young 
bride  and  her  husband  were  outlined  with  trees.  In 
course  of  time  the  property  was  converted  into  a  cemetery, 
and  for  many  years  has  been  devoted  to  that  purpose. 


SAVANNAH.  485 

It  is  filled  with  monuments  to  the  dead,  some  of  them 
bearing  historic  names.  Meantime  the  live  oaks  have 
grown  to  enormous  dimensions,  their  gigantic  branches 
meeting  and  interlacing  overhead,  forming  immense 
arches,  like  those  of  the  gothic  aisles  of  some  great  cathe- 
dral, under  and  through  which  are  visible  bright  vistas 
of  the  river  and  the  sea  islands  lying  beyond.  The 
branches  are  fringed  with  pendants  of  the  gray  Spanish 
moss,  yards  in  length,  which  sway  softly  in  the  breeze, 
and  by  their  sombre  color  add  to  the  solemnity  of  the 
scene.  The  steamers  on  the  Sea  Island  route  to  Fern- 
andina,  Florida,  pass  Bonaventure,  and  afford  glimpses 
of  white  monuments  through  the  avenues  of  trees. 
Bouaventure  is  a  favorite  drive  from  the  city,  and  is  also 
reached  by  the  horse  cars. 

Thunderbolt,  so  named,  tradition  tells  us,  because  a 
thunderbolt  once  fell  there,  is  a  short  distance  from 
Bonaventure,  down  the  Warsaw  River,  and  is  a  popular 
drive  and  summer  resort.  A  spring  of  water  flows  from 
the  spot  where  the  lightning  is  supposed  to  have  entered 
the  ground.  Jasper's  Spring  is  two  and  one-half  miles 
west  of  the  city,  and  is  the  scene  of  the  exploit  of  Ser- 
geant Jasper,  who  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  succeeded, 
with  only  one  companion,  in  releasing  a  party  of  Ameri- 
can prisoners  from  a  British  guard  of  eight  men.  Another 
fashionable  drive  is  to  White  Bluff,  ten  miles  distant 
from  the  city.  The  latter,  with  Beaulieu,  Montgomery 
and  the  Isle  of  Hope,  furnish  salt  water  bathing  and 
delightful  sea  breezes  for  the  summer  visitors. 

There  is  but  one  line  of  horse  cars  in  the  city,  running 
on  South  Broad  street,  and  then  out  the  Thunderbolt 
road  to  Thunderbolt,  Bonaventure,  and  the  other  sub- 
urban resorts.  This  company,  we  are  told,  has  been  so 


486      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

reckless  in  regard  to  the  limitations  of  its  charter,  that  the 
municipal  government  refuses  to  charter  a  second  road. 
If  our  Northern  cities  were  as  scrupulous,  we  wonder 
where  their  many  horse  railroads  would  be ! 

Since  the  war  Northern  men  and  Northern  capital  have 
helped  to  build  up  the  various  interests  of  Savannah. 
Planing  mills,  foundries,  flouring  and  grist  mills,  have 
been  established,  furnishing  employment  to  a  consider- 
able number  of  workingmen.  Old  channels  of  commerce 
have  been  extended,  and  new  ones  opened ;  and  the 
natural  advantage  of  her  position,  added  to  the  public 
spirit  which  her  citizens  manifest  in  the  accomplishment 
of  great  enterprises  of  internal  improvement,  give  a 
guarantee  of  increased  prosperity  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  XXXY. 

SPRINGFIELD. 

Valley  of  the  Connecticut. — Location  of  Springfield. — The  United 
States  Armory. — Springfield  Library. — Origin  of  the  Present 
Library  System. — The  Wayland  Celebration. — Settlement  of 
Springfield. — Indian  Hostilities. — Days  of  Witchcraft. — Trial  of 
Hugh  Parsons. — Hope  Daggett. — Springfield  "Republican." 

A  JOUENE  Y  up  the  Valley  of  the  Connecticut  at  this 
J_jL  season  of  the  year  is  a  positive  luxury  to  the 
tourist  or  professional  traveler.  It  is  a  broad,  beautiful 
stream,  winding  through  hill  and  dale,  with  grand  old 
forests  and  mountains  in  the  background,  their  foliage 
tipped  with  variegated  colors  by  the  fingers  of  Autumn, 
as  an  artist  would  put  a  finishing  touch  to  his  landscape. 

A  ride  of  twenty-five  miles  northward  from  Hartford 
brought  us  to  Springfield,  the  most  enterprising  and 
important  town  in  Western  Massachusetts.  The  United 
States  Armory,  located  here,  gives  to  the  city  a  national 
consequence.  No  city  in  the  Union  did  more  to  crush 
out  the  Rebellion  than  Springfield,  through  her  Armory. 
Two  or  three  thousand  men  were  kept  constantly 
employed  here  during  the  war,  turning  out  the  various 
arms  used  in  the  Federal  service.  The  force  now 
employed  is  considerably  less  than  in  war  times.  All 
hands  are  engaged  just  now  upon  the  Springfield  rifled 
musket,  which  has  recently  been  adopted  by  the  Govern- 
ment. The  military  precision  with  which  every  detail 
is  attended  to  is  the  admiration  of  all  who  are  shown 
through  the  Armory. 

487 


488      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

A  visit  to  the  City  Library,  on  State  street,  cannot  fail 
to  interest  every  person  who  feels  a  pride  in  the  public 
institutioas  of  New  England.  A  fine,  large,  brick  and 
stone  building,  with  plain  exterior  and  artistically  finished 
interior,  is  the  Springfield  Public  Library.  Over  forty 
thousand  volumes  cover  its  shelves,  and  are  so  systemati- 
cally arranged  that  the  librarian  or  his  assistants  can 
produce  at  once  any  work  named  in  the  catalogue.  The 
oblong  reading  room  is  furnished  with  black  walnut 
tables,  and  winding  staircases,  painted  in  blue  and  gold, 
lead  from  the  columned  alcoves  to  the  galleries  above. 

The  library  owns  some  very  old  and  valuable  books 
of  engravings.  A  room  on  the  first  floor  is  devoted  to 
stuffed  birds,  geological  specimens,  preserved  snakes,  and 
a  wonderful  assortment  of  curious  relics  obtained  from 
all  parts  of  the  world.  Icelandic  snow  shoes  and 
Hindoo  gods  occupy  places  on  the  same  shelf,  in  peace- 
ful proximity,  and  catamounts,  paralyzed  in  the  act 
of  springing,  glare  at  you  harmlessly  behind  their  glass 
cases.  Patriotic  mementoes  are  not  wanting,  as  the 
bullet-riddled  battle-flags  of  Massachusetts  regiments 
will  testify. 

The  free  public  library  system  is  distinctively  a  New 
England  institution,  and  wields  a  mighty  influence  for 
good.  It  was  originated  in  1847,  by  Rev.  Francis 
"Wayland,  President  of  Brown  University,  Providence, 
Rhode  Island.  On  Commencement  day  of  that  year 
Mr.  "Wayland  expressed  a  wish  to  help  the  inhabitants 
of  the  town  of  Wayland,  Massachusetts,  to  a  public 
library,  and  tendered  a  donation  of  five  hundred  dollars 
to  the  town  for  that  purpose,  upon  the  condition  that 
another  five  hundred  should  be  added  by  the  town. 
The  required  fund  was  quickly  raised,  by  subscription, 


SPRINGFIELD.  489 

and  President  Wayland  immediately  placed  his  dona- 
tion in  the  hands  of  one  of  their  prominent  citizens, 
Judge  Mellen.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  move- 
ment which  resulted  in  the  "Library  Act,"  of  May, 
1851,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

The  people  of  Wayland  bought  their  library  and 
provided  a  room  in  the  "  Town  House "  for  its  safe 
keeping.  A  librarian  was  chosen,  whose  salary  was  paid 
by  the  town,  and  the  institution  made  its  first  delivery  of 
books  August  seventh,  1850.  Rev.  John  B.  Wright  was  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  from  Wayland, 
during  the  session  of  1851,  and  through  his  agency  the  Act 
"to  authorize  cities  and  towns  to  establish  and  maintain 
public  libraries"  was  passed.  A  "  Library  Celebration" 
took  place  in  Wayland,  August  twenty-sixth,  1851,  and 
was  a  most  interesting  affair.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that 
through  the  practical  working  of  this  man's  idea  public 
libraries  were  established,  not  only  all  over  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  but  throughout  New  England. 

Springfield  was  founded  in  1636  by  William 
Pyncheon,  who  with  seven  other  men  settled  here,  with 
their  families,  on  May  fourteenth  of  that  year.  They 
were  bound  together  by  mutual  contract,  with  the 
design  of  having  their  colony  consist  of  forty  families. 
There  was  an  especial  provision  that  the  number  should 
never  exceed  fifty. 

The  early  prosperity  of  Springfield  was  considerably 
retarded  by  Indian  hostilities. 

In  October,  1675,  the  brown  warriors  of  King 
Phillip  made  a  descent  upon  the  place,  burning  twenty- 
nine  houses  and  killing  three  citizens — one  of  them  a 
woman.  The  timely  arrival  of  Major  Pyncheon,  Major 
Treat  and  Captain  Appletou,  with  their  troops,  prevented 


490      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

further  destruction  and  repulsed  the  attack  of  the  In- 
dians. Springfield  was  also  the  scene  of  operations 
during  the  troubles  of  1786-87.  At  that  time,  General 
Shepperd  was  posted  here,  for  the  defence  of  the  Armory. 

Thus,  through  much  tribulation,  has  the  thriving 
town  attained  its  present  prosperity. 

In  its  infant  days,  Springfield  cherished  a  strong  be- 
lief in  witchcraft,  as  the  following  incident  will  testify : 
In  the  same  year  that  Hartford  set  such  a  bad  example 
to  her  northern  neighbor  on  the  Connecticut,  by  hanging 
Mrs.  Greensmith,  Springfield,  not  to  be  outdone,  pre- 
ferred a  charge  of  witchcraft  against  one  Hugh  Par- 
sons— a  very  handsome  and  pleasing  young  man,  it 
seems,  with  whom  all  the  women  fell  in  love.  Of 
course,  this  was  not  to  be  tolerated  by  the  male  popula- 
tion of  the  place,  who  hated  him,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence ;  and,  accordingly,  the  handsomest  man  in  Spring- 
field was  indicted  and  tried,  on  the  grave  accusation  of 
being  in  league  with  the  powers  of  evil.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  jury  found  him  guilty.  But,  through 
some  influence  not  explained,  the  judge,  Mr.  Pyncheon, 
stayed  proceedings  in  his  behalf  until  the  matter  could 
be  laid  before  the  General  Court,  in  Boston.  There  the 
decision  of  the  Springfield  jury  was  reversed,  and  Mr. 
Parsons  set  at  liberty.  Whether  after  this  his  dangerous 
attractions  were  duly  husbanded,  or  whether  he  went  on, 
as  of  old,  winning  such  wholesale  admiration,  we  are  not 
informed. 

One  of  the  sensations  of  the  hour  during  my  sojourn 
in  Springfield,  was  an  encounter  between  the  State  Street 
Baptist  Church  and  Hope  Daggett,  one  of  its  members. 
The  disaffected  sister  had  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers 
manners  made  herself  so  obnoxious  to  the  congregation, 


SPRINGFIELD.  491 

by  her  strong-minded  peculiarities,  that  an  officer  was 
called  upon  the  scene  and  requested  to  eject  by  force, 
if  necessary,  the  eccentric  and  uncompromising  Hope. 
Officer  Maxwell,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  seized 
the  unruly  sister,  and  without  stopping  to  consider  the 
sudden  fame  which  this  act  would  launch  upon  him, 
thrust  her  into  the  street,  amid  the  cheers  and  taunts  of 
friends  and  enemies.  Now  it  is  the  peculiar  misfortune 
of  Miss  Daggett  to  have  a  wooden  leg,  and  on  the  day 
following  this  tragic  affair  the  press  of  Springfield  was 
devoted  to  various  accounts  of  the  engagement,  in  which 
Maxwell  and  the  wooden  leg  figured  alternately. 

I  cannot  leave  Springfield  without  some  mention  of 
its  leading  paper,  the  Springfield  Republican,  which  for 
many  years  has  been  one  of  the  solid  papers  of  the  Bay 
State,  and  a  representative  organ  in  politics  and  litera- 
ture. Its  editor,  Samuel  Bowles,  is  an  energetic  business 
manager  and  a  stirring  politician,  who  has  fought  his 
way  up  from  obscurity  to  a  position  in  the  front  rank  of 
American  journalism. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

ST.  LOUIS. 

Approach  to  St.  Louis. — Bridge  Over  the  Mississippi. — View  of  the 
City. — Material  Resources  of  Missouri. — Early  History  of  St. 
Louis. — Increase  of  Population. — Manufacturing  and  Commer- 
cial Interests. — Locality. — Description  of  St.  Louis  in  1842. — 
Resemblance  to  Philadelphia. — Public  Buildings. — Streets. — 
Parks. — Fair  Week. — Educational  and  Charitable  Institutions. 
— Hotels. — Mississippi  River. — St.  Louis  During  the  Rebellion. 
— Peculiar  Characteristics. — The  Future  of  the  City. 

T  I  THE  visitor  to  St.  Louis,  if  from  the  east,  will  prob- 
_1_  ably  make  his  approach  over  the  great  bridge 
which  spans  the  Mississippi.  This  bridge,  designed  by 
Captain  Eads,  and  begun  in  1867,  was  completed  in 
1874,  and  is  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  American 
engineering.  It  consists  of  three  spans,  resting  on  four 
piers.  The  central  span  is  520  feet  in  width,  and  the 
side  ones  500  feet  each.  They  have  a  rise  of  sixty  feet, 
sufficient  to  permit  the  passage  of  steamers  under  them, 
even  at  high  water.  The  piers  are  sunk  through  the 
sand  to  the  bed-rock,  a  distance  of  from  ninety  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet,  the  work  having  been  accom- 
plished by  means  of  iron  wrought  caissons  and  atmos- 
pheric pressure.  Each  span  consists  of  four  ribbed 
arches,  made  of  cast  steel.  The  bridge  is  two  stories 
high,  the  lower  story  containing  a  double  car  track, 
and  the  upper  one  two  horse-car  tracks,  two  carriage- 
ways and  two  foot-ways.  Reaching  the  St.  Louis 
shore,  the  car  and  road  ways  pass  over  a  viaduct  of 
five  arches,  of  twenty-seven  feet  span  each,  to  "Washing- 

492 


ST.  Loms.  493 

ton  avenue,  where  the  railway  tracks  run  into  a  tunnel 
4,800  feet  long,  terminating  near  Eleventh  street. 
Bridge  and  tunnel  together  cost  eleven  millions  of 
dollars. 

This  wonderful  structure,  which  has  few  if  any  equals 
upon  the  continent,  will  impress  the  traveler  with  the 
commercial  magnitude  and  enterprise  of  the  great  western 
city  to  which  it  forms  the  eastern  portal.  Looking  from 
the  car  window  he  will  see,  first,  the  Mississippi,  which, 
if  at  the  period  of  low  water,  disappoints  him  with  its 
apparent  insignificance ;  but  which,  if  it  be  at  the  time 
of  its  annual  flood,  has  crept,  on  the  St.  Louis  side,  nearly 
to  the  top  of  the  steep  levee,  and  has  filled  up  the  broad 
valley  miles  away  on  the  hither  side,  a  rushing,  turbu- 
lent river,  turbid  with  the  yellow  waters  of  the  Missouri, 
which,  emptying  into  it  twenty  miles  above,  have  scarcely, 
at  this  point,  perfectly  mingled  with  the  clearer  Missis- 
sippi. He  will  see  next  the  river  front  of  St.  Louis — 
a  continuous  line  of  steamboats,  towboats  and  barges, 
without  a  sail  or  mast  among  them  ;  the  levee  rising  in 
a  steep  acclivity  twenty  feet  above  the  river's  edge ;  and 
multitudinous  mules,  with  their  colored  drivers,  toiling 
laboriously,  and  by  the  aid  of  much  whipping  and  swear- 
ing, up  or  down  the  steep  bank,  carrying  the  merchan- 
dise which  has  just  then  landed,  or  is  destined  to  be 
loaded  in  some  vessel's  hold.  Beyond  the  river  rises  the 
city,  terrace  above  terrace,  its  outlines  bristling  with 
spires,  and  prominent  above  all,  the  dome  of  the  Court 
House. 

St.  Louis  is  situated  in  the  very  heart  of  the  great 
Mississippi  Valley,  and  a  large  share  of  its  rich  agricul- 
tural products  and  mineral  stores  are  constantly  poured 
into  her  lap.  Pilot  Knob  and  Iron  Mountain,  both 


494      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

containing  inexhaustible  supplies  of  the  useful  ore,  are 
not  far  distant.  The  lead  districts  of  Missouri  include 
more  than  6,000  square  miles.  In  fifteen  counties  there 
is  copper.  In  short,  within  one  hundred  miles  of  St. 
Louis,  gold,  iron,  lead,  zinc,  copper,  tin,  silver,  platina, 
nickel,  emery,  cobalt,  coal,  limestone,  granite,  pipe-clay, 
fire-clay,  marble,  metallic  paints  and  salt  are  found,  in 
quantities  which  will  repay  working.  In  the  State 
there  are  twenty  millions  acres  of  good  farming  lands  ; 
five  millions  of  acres  are  among  the  best  in  the  world 
for  grapes ;  and  eight  millions  are  particularly  suited  to 
the  raising  of  hemp.  There  is,  besides,  a  sufficiency  of 
timber  land.  With  all  these  resources  from  which  to 
draw,  it  would  be  surprising  if  St.  Louis  did  not  become 
a  leading  city  in  the  West.  Situated,  as  she  is,  on  the 
Mississippi  River,  about  midway  between  its  source  and 
its  mouth,  the  junction  of  the  Missouri  twenty  miles  above, 
and  that  of  the  Ohio  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
miles  below,  and  being  the  river  terminus  of  a  compli- 
cated system  of  western  railways,  the  towns  and  cities, 
and  even  the  small  hamlets  of  the  north,  south  and 
west,  and  to  a  limited  extent  of  the  east  also,  all  pay  her 
tribute.  As  Chicago  is  the  gateway  to  the  East,  by 
means  of  the  great  chain  of  lakes  and  rivers  at  whose 
head  she  sits,  so  St.  Louis  holds  open  the  door  to  the 
South  and  the  East  as  well,  through  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Ohio  rivers. 

In  many  respects  the  business  rival  of  Chicago  to-day, 
it  has  a  history  reaching  half  a  century  further  back. 
While  Chicago  was  still  a  howling  wilderness,  its  only 
inhabitants  the  warlike  Pottawatomies,  who  sometimes 
encamped  upon  the  shores  of  its  lake  and  river,  St.  Louis 
had  a  local  habitation  and  a  name.  On  February 


ST.  LOUIS.  495 

fifteenth,  1764,  Pierre  Laclede  Siguest,  an  enterprising 
Frenchman,  established  at  this  point  a  depot  for  the  furs 
of  the  vast  region  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  St.  Louis.  This  was 
done  by  permission  of  the  Governor  General  of  Louisi- 
ana, which  was  then  a  French  province.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  cabins  were  built,  a  little  corn  planted  and 
the  Indians  placated.  The  Frenchmen  seemed  to  have 
gotten  along  with  the  Indians  tolerably  well  in  those 
days.  They  had  no  hesitation  in  marrying  squaws,  even 
though  they  already  possessed  one  lawful  wife;  they 
were  good  tempered  and  merry,  and  attempted  no  con- 
version of  the  Indians  with  a  Bible  in  one  hand  and  a 
sword  in  the  other.  So  the  two  races  got  along  nicely 
together. 

The  peace  of  1763  gave  the  country  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  English,  and  the  Frenchmen  who  had 
settled  upon  the  Illinois  made  haste  to  remove  to  St. 
Louis,  to  avoid  living  under  the  rule  of  their  "  natural 
enemy."  This  was  scarcely  accomplished  when  the 
more  terrible  news  reached  them  that  Louis  XV  had 
ceded  his  possessions  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  Spain. 
For  the  next  thirty  years  the  town  was  a  Spanish  out- 
post of  Louisiana,  in  which  province  no  one  not  a 
Catholic  could  own  land. 

To  go  to  New  Orleans  and  return  was  a  voyage  of 
ten  months;  but  in  that  early  day,  and  under  such 
surprising  difficulties,  St.  Louis  began  its  commercial 
career.  It  exported  furs,  lead  and  salt,  and  imported 
the  few  necessaries  required  by  the  settlers,  and  beads, 
tomahawks,  and  other  articles  demanded  by  the  Indians 
in  exchange  for  furs.  In  1799  the  inhabitants  num- 
bered 925,  a  falling  off  of  272  from  the  previous  year. 


496     PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

In  1804,  Sts  Louis  passed  to  the  United  States,  together 
with  the  whole  country  west  of  the  Mississippi.  In 
1811  the  population  had  increased  to  1400,  and  there 
were  two  schools  in  the  town,  one  French  and  one 
English.  In  1812  the  portion  of  the  territory  lying 
north  of  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  latitude  was  organized 
as  Missouri  Territory.  In  1813  the  first  brick  house 
was  erected  in  St.  Louis.  In  1820  its  population  was 
4,928.  In  1822  it  was  incorporated  as  a  city. 

After  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States, 
the  law  forbidding  Protestant  worship,  and  requiring 
owners  of  land  to  profess  the  Catholic  faith,  was  repealed, 
and  men  American  born  but  of  English  descent  begun 
to  pour  into  the  town.  In  1808  a  newspaper  was  estab- 
lished, and  in  1811  many  of  the  old  French  names  of 
the  streets  were  changed  to  English  ones.  In  1812  the 
lead  mines  began  to  be  worked  to  better  advantage,  on  a 
larger  scale,  and  agriculture  assumed  increasing  import- 
ance. In  1815  the  first  steamboat  made  its  appearance. 

In  1820  St.  Louis  cast  its  vote  for  slavery,  and  settled 
the  question  for  Missouri.  The  population  then  was 
4,928,  which  in  1830  had  increased  to  5,852;  924 
additional  inhabitants  in  ten  years !  From  1830  to  1860 
its  population  trebled  every  ten  years,  the  census  returns 
of  the  latter  year  giving  it  160,773.  In  1870  it  had 
nearly  doubled  again,  the  number  being  310,864  inhabit- 
ants. According  to  the  United  States  Census  report  of 
1880,  the  population  was  350,522,  which  made  St.  Louis 
the  sixth  city  in  the  Union.  Since  that  time  it  has  been 
rapidly  on  the  increase. 

St.  Louis  is  the  first  city  in  the  Union  in  the  manu- 
facture of  flour,  and  is  a  rival  of  Cincinnati  in  the  pork- 
packing  business.  It  has  extensive  lumber  mills, 


ST.  LOUIS.  497 

linseed-oil  factories,  provision-packing  houses,  manu- 
factures large  quantities  of  hemp,  whisky  and  tobacco, 
has  vast  iron  factories  and  machine  shops,  breweries, 
lead  and  paint  works.  In  brief,  it  takes  a  rank  second 
only  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia  in  its  manufactures, 
to  which  its  prosperity  is  largely  due.  In  1874  the 
prod  ucts  of  that  year  were  valued  at  nearly  $240,000,000, 
while  it  furnished  employment  to  about  50,000  work- 
men. Great  as  are  Chicago's  manufacturing  interests, 
St.  Louis  excels  her  in  this  respect,  while  she  rivals  the 
former  city  in  her  commercial  interests.  The  natural 
commercial  entreport  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  the 
commerce  of  St.  Louis  is  immense.  It  receives  and 
exports  to  the  north,  east  and  south,  breadstuffs,  live 
stock,  provisions,  cotton,  lead,  hay,  salt,  wool,  hides  and 
pelts,  lumber  and  tobacco. 

St.  Louis  is  perched  high  above  the  river,  so  that  she 
is  beyond  the  reach  of  all  save  the  highest  floods  of  that 
most  capricious  stream.  She  is  built  on  three  terraces, 
the  first  twenty,  the  second  one  hundred  and  fifty,  and 
the  third  two  hundred  feet  above  low-water  mark. 
The  second  terrace  begins  at  Twenty-fifth  street,  and  the 
third  at  Cote  Brillante,  four  miles  west  of  the  river. 
The  surface  here  spreads  out  into  a  broad,  beautiful 
plain.  The  highest  hill  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city 
was  the  lofty  mound  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  a  relic  of 
prehistoric  times,  and  from  which  St.  Louis  derived  its 
name  of  the  "  Mound  City."  Greatly  to  the  regret  of 
antiquarians  a  supposed  necessity  existed  for  the  removal 
of  this  mound,  and  now  no  trace  of  it  is  left. 

In  1842  Charles  Dickens  published  his  American 
Notes,  in  which  is  found  the  following  description  of 
St.  Louis : — 

32 


498      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

"  In  the  old  French  portion  of  the  town  the  thorough- 
fares are  narrow  and  crooked,  and  some  of  the  houses 
are  very  quaint  and  picturesque,  being  built  of  wood, 
with  tumble-down  galleries  before  the  windows,  ap- 
proachable by  stairs,  or  rather  ladders,  from  the  street. 
There  are  queer  little  barber  shops  and  drinking  houses, 
too,  in  this  quarter ;  and  abundance  of  crazy  old  tene- 
ments, with  blinking  casements,  such  as  may  be  seen  in 
Flanders.  Some  of  these  ancient  habitations,  with  high 
garret  gable  windows  perking  into  the  roofs,  have  a 
kind  of  French  spring  about  them ;  and,  being  lop- 
sided with  age,  appear  to  hold  their  heads  askew, 
besides,  as  if  they  were  grimacing  in  astonishment  at 
the  American  improvements." 

There  is  nothing  of  this  now  seen  in  St.  Louis,  except 
in  the  narrower  streets  along  the  river,  which  remain  a 
lasting  relic  of  the  ancient  city.  Yankee  enterprise  has 
obliterated,  in  the  appearance  of  the  city  at  least,  all 
trace  of  its  French  and  Spanish  origin.  The  work  of 
renovation  must  have  commenced  soon  after  Dickens' 
visit,  for  Lady  Emeline  Wortley,  visiting  St.  Louis 
in  1 849,  describes  it  as  follows  :— 

"  Merrily  were  huge  houses  going  up  in  all  directions. 
From  our  hotel  windows  we  had  a  long  view  of  gigan- 
tic and  gigantically-growing-up  dwellings,  that  seemed 
every  morning  to  be  about  a  story  higher  than  we  left 
them  on  the  preceding  night ;  as  if  they  had  slept,  during 
the  night,  on  guano,  like  the  small  boy  in  the  American 
tale,  who  reposed  on  a  field  covered  by  it,  and  whose 
father,  on  seeking  him  the  following  day,  found  a  gawky 
gentleman  of  eight  feet  high,  bearing  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  a  Patagonian  walking  stick." 

If  Chicago  is  a  western  reproduction  of  New  York, 


ST.  LOUIS.  499 

with  its  characteristic  alertness  preternaturally  devel- 
oped, St.  Louis  takes  Philadelphia  for  her  prototype. 
The  merchants  and  statesmen  plodding  wearily  across 
the  continent  during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century 
and  early  in  this,  found  Philadelphia  the  chief  city  of  the 
country,  and  went  home  with  their  minds  filled  with  the 
distinguishing  features  of  that  city.  These  they  repro- 
duced, as  far  as  was  practicable,  in  their  own  young  and 
growing  town.  They  laid  it  out  with  regularity,  the 
streets  near  the  river,  which  describes  a  slight  curve, 
running  parallel  to  it.  Further  back,  they  describe 
straight  lines,  while  the  streets  running  from  east  to 
west  are,  for  the  most  part,  at  right  angles  with  those 
they  cross.  Imitating  Philadelphia,  the  streets  are 
named  numerically  from  the  river.  Those  crossing 
them  have  arbitrary  names  given  them,  while  many 
Philadelphia  nomenclatures,  such  as  Market,  Chestnut, 
Pine,  Spruce,  Poplar,  Walnut  and  Vine,  are  repeated. 
The  houses  are  also  numbered  in  Philadelphia  fashion, 
the  streets  parallel  with  the  river  being  numbered  north 
and  south  from  Market  street,  and  those  running  east 
and  west  taking  their  numbers  from  the  river.  In 
numbering,  each  street  passes  on  to  a  new  hundred; 
thus  No.  318  is  the  ninth  house  above  Third  street  on 
one  side  of  the  way. 

Not  only  in  these  superficial  matters  is  Philadelphia 
imitated,  but  the  resemblance  is  preserved  in  more  sub- 
stantial particulars.  Many  of  the  buildings  are  large, 
old-fashioned,  square  mansions,  built  of  brick  with  white 
marble  trimmings.  There  is  less  attempt  at  architectural 
display  than  in  Chicago,  apparently  the  main  thought 
of  the  builders  being  to  obtain  substantiality.  Yet  there 
are  many  handsome  buildings,  both  public  and  private. 


500      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

One  of  the  finest  structures  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States  is  the  Court  House,  occupying  the  square  bounded 
by  Fourth,  Fifth,  Chestnut  and  Market  streets.  It  is 
in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  of  Grecian  architecture, 
built  of  Genevieve  limestone,  and  is  surmounted  by  a 
lofty  iron  dome,  from  the  cupola  of  which  it  is  possible 
to  obtain  an  extensive  view  of  the  city  and  its  surround- 
ings. The  building  cost  $1,200,000.  The  fronts  are 
adorned  with  beautiful  porticoes.  The  Four  Courts,  in 
Clark  avenue,  between  Eleventh  and  Twelfth  streets,  is 
a  handsome  and  spacious  building,  constructed  of  lime- 
stone, at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000.  A  semi-circular  iron  jail 
is  in  its  rear,  so  constructed  that  all  its  cells  are  under 
the  observation  of  a  single  watchman.  A  Custom  House 
and  Post  Office  is  now  in  process  of  erection,  at  the 
corner  of  Olive  and  Eighth  streets.  It  is  of  Maine 
granite,  with  rose-colored  granite  trimmings,  three 
stories  in  height,  with  a  French  roof  and  Louvre  dome,  and 
when  completed  will  occupy  an  entire  square  and  cost 
$5,000,000. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  the  great  commercial 
mart  of  the  city,  the  heart  of  enormous  business  interests, 
whose  arteries  sometimes  pulsate  with  feverish  heat, 
and  whose  transactions  aifect  business  affairs  to  the 
furthest  extent  of  the  country.  The  edifice  is  the  hand- 
somest of  its  kind  in  America.  It  is  five  stories  high, 
wholly  built  of  gray  limestone,  and  cost  $800,000.  The 
main  hall  of  the  Exchange  is  two  hundred  feet  long,  one 
hundred  wide,  and  seventy  high.  In  the  gallery  sur- 
rounding it  strangers  can  at  any  time  witness  the  proceed- 
ings on  the  floor,  and  watch  how  fortunes  are  made  and 
unmade. 

The  most  imposing  and  ornate  building  of  the  city, 


ST.  LOUIS.  501 

architecturally  speaking,  is  the  Columbia  Life  Insurance 
building,  which  is  of  rose-colored  granite,  in  the  Renais- 
sance style,  four  stories  high,  with  a  massive  stone  cornice 
representing  mythological  figures.  The  roof  is  reached 
by  an  elevator,  and  affords  a  fine  view. 

The  city  abounds  in  handsome  churches.  Most  promi- 
nent among  them  all  is  Christ  Church  (Episcopal)  at  the 
corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets.  It  is  in  the 
cathedral  gothic  style,  with  stained-glass  windows  and 
lofty  nave.  The  Catholic  Cathedral,  on  Walnut  street, 
between  Second  and  Third  streets,  is  an  imposing  struc- 
ture with  a  front  of  polished  freestone  faced  by  a  Doric 
portico.  The  Church  of  the  Messiah  (Unitarian),  at 
the  corner  of  Olive  and  Ninth  streets,  is  a  handsome 
gothic  structure.  The  Jewish  Temple,  at  the  corner  of 
Seventeenth  and  Pine  streets,  is  one  of  the  finest  reli- 
gious edifices  in  the  city.  There  are~many  others  which 
will  challenge  the  visitor's  attention  and  admiration  as 
he  passes  through  the  streets  of  the  city. 

The  wholesale  business  of  St.  Louis  is  confined  to 
Front,  Second,  Third  and  Main  streets.  Front  street  is 
one  hundred  feet  wide,  and  extends  along  the  levee, 
being  lined  with  massive  stores  and  warehouses.  Fourth 
street  contains  the  leading  retail  stores,  and  on  every 
pleasant  day  it  is  filled  with  handsome  equipages,  while 
on  its  sidewalks  are  found  the  fashion  and  beauty  of  the 
city.  Washington  avenue  is  one  of  the  widest  and  most 
elegant  avenues  in  St.  Louis,  and  west  of  Twenty-seventh 
street  contains  many  beautiful  residences.  Pine,  Olive 
and  Locust  streets,  Chouteau  avenue  and  Lucas  Place, 
are  also  famed  for  their  fine  residences.  Lindell  or 
Grant  avenue,  running  north  and  south,  on  the  western 
boundary  of  the  city,  and  slightly  bending  toward 


502       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

the  river,  is  its  longest  street,  being  twelve  miles  in 
length. 

The  corporate  limits  of  St.  Louis  extend  eleven  miles 
along  the  river,  and  about  three  miles  inland.  The 
densely  built  portion  of  the  city  is  about  six  miles  in 
length  by  two  in  width.  Its  public  parks  are  one  of  its 
striking  features.  They  embrace  an  aggregate  of  about 
2,000  acres.  The  most  beautiful  is  Lafayette  Park,  lying 
between  Park  and  Lafayette,  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
avenues.  In  it  are  a  bronze  statue  of  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
by  Harriet  Hosmer,  and  a  bronze  statue  of  Washington. 
It  is  for  pedestrians  only,  is  elaborately  laid  out  and 
ornamented,  and  is  surrounded  by  magnificent  residences. 
Missouri  Park  is  a  pretty  little  park  at  the  foot  of  Lucas 
Place,  containing  a  handsome  fountain.  St.  Louis  Place, 
Hyde  Park  and  Washington  Square  are  all  attractive 
places  of  resort.  Northern  Park,  on  the  bluffs  to  the 
north  of  the  city,  is  noted  for  its  fine  trees,  and  contains 
180  acres.  Forest  Park  is  the  great  park  of  the  city. 
It  lies  four  miles  west  of  the  Court  House,  and  contains 
1350  acres.  The  Des  Pares  runs  through  it,  and  the 
native  forest  trees  are  still  standing.  With  great  natural 
advantages,  it  requires  only  time  and  art  to  number  it 
among  the  handsomest  parks  in  the  country.  Tower 
Grove  Park,  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  city,  contains 
227  acres,  offers  delightful  drives  among  green  lawns 
and  charmingly  arranged  shrubbery. 

Adjoining  this  park  is  Shaw's  Garden,  which  contains 
109  acres.  It  possesses  a  peculiar  interest,  from  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  arranged.  It  is  divided  into 
three  sections,  the  first  being  the  Herbaceous  and  Flower 
Garden,  embracing  ten  acres,  and  including  every  flower 
which  can  be  grown  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis,  besides 


ST.  LOUIS.  503 

several  greenhouses  containing  thousands  of  exotic  and 
tropical  plants.  The  second  section,  called  the  Fruti- 
cetum,  comprises  six  acres  devoted  to  fruit  of  all  kinds. 
The  Arboretum,  or  third  section,  includes  twenty-five 
acres,  and  contains  all  kinds  of  ornamental  and  fruit  trees. 
The  Labyrinth  is  an  intricate,  hedge-bordered  pathway, 
leading  to  a  summer-house  in  the  centre.  There  are 
also  a  museum  and  botanical  library.  This  garden  is 
entirely  the  result  of  private  taste  and  enterprise,  having 
been  planned  and  executed  by  Henry  Shaw,  who  has 
thrown  it  open  to  the  public,  and  intends  it  as  a  gift  to 
the  city. 

Bellefontaine  Cemetery  is  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
West.  It  is  situated  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city, 
about  four  and  one-half  miles  from  the  Court  House,  and 
embraces  350  acres.  It  contains  a  number  of  fine 
monuments,  while  the  trees  and  shrubbery  are  most 
tastefully  arranged.  Calvary  Cemetery,  north  and  not 
far  distant,  is  nearly  as  large  and  quite  as  beautiful. 
Here,  in  these  quiet  cities  of  the  dead,  far  from  the  bustle 
of  the  great  town,  the  men  and  women  of  this  western 
metropolis,  whose  lives  were  passed  in  turmoil  and 
activity,  find  at  last  that  rest  which  must  come  to  all. 

The  people  of  St.  Louis  are  supplied  with  water 
from  the  river,  the  waterworks  being  situated  at  Bissell's 
Point,  three  and  one-half  miles  north  of  the  court  house. 
Two  pumping  engines,  each  with  a  daily  capacity  of 
17,000,000  gallons,  furnish  an  ample  supply  for  all  the 
needs  of  the  great  city. 

Fair  week,  which  is  usually  the  first  week  in  October, 
is  the  great  holiday  and  gala  season  of  St.  Louis.  The 
writer  of  this  article  was  once  so  fortunate  as  to  visit  the 
city  early  in  this  week.  Every  train  of  cars  on  the 


504       PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

many  lines  which  centre  at  St.  Louis,  and  every  steam- 
boat which  came  from  up  or  down  the  river,  brought  its 
living  freight  of  men  and  women,  who  were  out  for  a 
week's  holiday,  and,  it  may  have  been,  paying  their 
annual  visit  to  the  greatest  city  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  country  roads  leading  to  town  were  black  with 
vehicles  of  all  descriptions,  and  laden  with  men  and 
merchandise.  The  laborers  and  mules  upon  the  levee 
were  busier  than  ever,  receiving  and  transporting  the 
articles  to  be  exhibited  and  sold.  Every  hotel  was 
crowded,  and  the  surplus  overflowed  into  boarding  and 
lodging  houses,  so  that  their  keepers  undoubtedly  reaped 
a  golden  harvest  for  that  one  week,  at  least.  The  streets 
were  thronged  with  an  immense  and  motley  multitude  : 
business  men,  on  the  alert  to  extend  their  trade  and 
add  to  their  gains ;  working  women,  who  found  an 
opportunity  for  a  brief  holiday ;  ladies  of  fashion  who 
viewed  the  scene  resting  at  their  ease  in  their  carriages  ; 
farmers  from  the  rural  districts,  looking  uncomfortable 
yet  complaisant  in  their  Sunday  suits,  and  trying  to  take 
in  all  there  was  to  see  and  understand  ;  their  wives,  old- 
fashioned  and  countrified  in  their  dress,  and  with  a  tired 
look  upon  their  faces,  which  this  week  given  up  to  idle- 
ness and  sight-seeing  could  not  quite  dispel ;  sporting 
men,  easily  recognizable  by  their  flashy  dress  and 
"  horsey  "  talk ;  gamblers  and  blacklegs  by  the  score, 
whose  appearance  and  manners  were  too  excessively 
gentlemanly  to  pass  as  quite  genuine,  and  whose  gains 
during  the  week  were  probably  larger  and  more  certain 
than  those  of  any  other  class ;  western  men,  with  their 
patois,  borrowed  apparently  from  the  slang  of  every 
nation  on  the  globe  ;  Southerners,  with  their  long  hair, 
slouched  hats  and  broad  accent ;  river  hands,  whose  most 


ST.  LOUIS.  505 

noticeable  accomplishments  seemed  to  be  disposing  of 
tobacco  and  inventing  new  oaths;  negroes,  whose  facile 
natures  entered  heartily  into  the  occasion,  and  on  whose 
sleek,  shining  countenances  the  spirit  of  contentment 
was  plainly  visible;  eastern  men,  with  the  Yankee 
intonation;  Germans,  in  great  numbers,  patronizingly 
endorsing  their  adopted  country,  and  selling  lager  beer 
with  stolid  content;  Irishmen,  whose  preference  was 
whisky,  and  who  were  ever  ready  for  fun  or  a  fight ; 
beggars,  plying  their  vocation  with  an  extra  whine, 
adopted  to  conceal  an  unwonted  tendency  to  cheerful- 
ness ;  magnates,  who  looked  pompous  and  conscious  of 
their  own  importance,  but  who  were  jostled  and  pushed 
with  the  democratic  disregard  for  rank  and  station  which 
characterizes  an  American  crowd. 

Probably  in  no  city  in  the  Union  would  one  find  quite 
so  cosmopolitan  a  multitude,  representing  all  sections 
and  all  nationalities  so  impartially.  In  the  business  and 
populous  centre  of  our  country,  here  came  all  classes  and 
peoples  who  had  been  born  under,  or  had  sought  the 
protection  of,  our  flag,  to  worship  one  week  at  the 
shrines  of  Ceres  and  Pomona. 

The  fair  grounds  of  the  St.  Louis  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  Association  are  three  miles  northwest  of  the 
Court  House,  and  embrace  eighty-five  acres  handsomely 
laid  out  and  containing  extensive  buildings.  The 
Amphitheatre  will  seat  40,000  persons.  The  street  cars 
leading  to  these  grounds  were  at  all  times  filled  with 
people,  and  in  addition  there  was  a  constant  procession 
of  carriages,  wagons  and  carts,  going  and  returning. 
Within  the  enclosure  the  dense  throng  surged  and  swayed 
like  a  human  whirlpool.  The  displays  in  the  agricultural 
and  mechanical  departments  were  something  astonishing ; 


506      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

for  where  in  the  world  is  there  such  grain  grown  and  in 
such  quantities,  as  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  val- 
leys ?  "Where  are  there  such  fat  oxen,  such  sleek,  self- 
satisfied  cows,  with  such  capacity  for  rich  milk  ?  Horses, 
hogs  and  sheep  were  all  of  the  best,  and  indicated  that  the 
West  is  very  far  advanced  in  scientific  stock  raising.  The 
farm  implements  displayed  all  sorts  of  contrivances  for 
lightening  and  hastening  the  farmer's  toil.  It  needed 
but  a  glance  to  show  that  farming  in  this  region  was  no 
single-man,  one-horse  affair. 

In  art  the  East  as  yet  exceeds  the  West ;  for  in  the 
scramble  after  material  gain  the  artistic  nature  has  not 
been  greatly  cultivated,  and  its  expressions  are,  for  the 
most  part,  crude.  But  they  give  promise  of  future 
excellence.  St.  Louis  has  no  picture  gallery  worthy  the 
name,  but  excells  in  scientific  and  educational  institutions. 

The  Mercantile  Library,  .at  the  corner  of  Fifth  and 
Locust  streets,  contains  50,000  volumes,  and  its  hall  is 
decorated  by  paintings,  coins  and  statuary,  among  which 
latter  may  be  mentioned  Miss  Hosmer's  life-size  statue 
of  Beatrice  Cenci  and  CEnone;  a  bronze  copy  of  the 
Venus  de  Medici,  a  sculptured  slab  from  the  ruins  of 
Nineveh,  and  marble  busts  of  Thomas  H.  Benton  and 
Robert  Burns.  The  library  with  its  reading  room  is 
free  to  strangers. 

Besides  the  library  there  is  a  public  school  library  of 
38,000  volumes ;  an  Academy  of  Science,  founded  in 
1856,  with  a  large  museum  and  a  library  of  3,000  vol- 
umes; and  a  Historical  Society,  founded  in  1865,  with 
a  valuable  historical  collection.  Washington  University, 
organized  in  1853,  embraces  the  whole  range  of  univer- 
sity studies  except  theology.  With  it  is  connected  the 
Mary  Institute,  for  the  education  of  women,  the  Poly- 


ST.  LOUIS.  507 

technic  School,  and  the  Law  School.  The  public  school 
system  of  St.  Louis  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  country,  and 
its  school-houses  are  comraendably  fine.  The  Roman 
Catholic  College  of  the  Christian  Brothers  has  about 
four  hundred  students,  and  a  library  of  10,000  volumes. 
Concordia  College  (German  Lutheran),  established  in 
1839,  has  a  library  of  4,500  volumes.  Besides  the  num- 
erous public  schools,  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  embrace 
a  majority  of  the  inhabitants,  have  about  one  hundred 
parochial,  private  and  conventual  schools.  They  have 
also  a  number  of  convents,  charitable  homes,  asylums 
and  hospitals. 

The  hotels,  chief  amongst  which  are  the  new  Southern 
Hotel,  Lindell  House,  Planters'  Hotel,  Laclede  Hotel 
and  Barnum's  Hotel,  will  compare  favorably,  in  point  of 
attendance,  comfort  and  elegance,  with  any  in  the  coun- 
try. Horse  cars  traverse  the  city  in  every  direction, 
rendering  all  points  easily  accessible, and  carriages  are  in 
waiting  at  the  depots  and  steamboat  landings.  Ferries 
ply  continually  to  East  St.  Louis,  on  the  Illinois  shore, 
from  the  foot  of  Carr  street,  north  of  the  bridge,  and  from 
the  foot  of  Spruce  street,  south  of  it,  the  two  points  of 
departure  being  about  a  mile  apart. 

So  long  as  the  Mississippi  River  washes  the  levee  in 
front  of  the  city,  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  are  in  little 
danger  of  long  remaining  dull,  for  want  of  excitement. 
That  river,  one  of  the  uneasiest  of  water  courses,  con- 
stantly furnishes  fresh  themes  of  interest,  and  even  of 
anxiety.  It  has  a  singular  penchant  for  a  frequent 
change  of  channels,  and  occasionally  threatens  to  desert 
to  Illinois  and  leave  St.  Louis  an  inland  town,  with  its 
high  levee  a  sort  of  rampart  to  receive  the  mocking 
assaults  of  Chicago.  Then,  every  spring,  there  is  the> 


508      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

annual  freshet,  which,  once  in  ten  or  fifteen  years,  creeps 
up  over  the  top  of  the  levee,  and  finds  its  way  into 
cellars  and  first  floors  of  stores  and  warehouses.  Occa- 
sionally there  is  a  severe  winter,  when  ice  is  formed  upon 
the  river  as  far  south  even  as  St.  Louis ;  and  when  it 
breaks  up  in  the  spring,  mischief  is  sure  to  ensue.  A 
hundred  steamboats  are  in  winter  quarters  along  the 
levee,  their  noses  in  the  sand,  and  their  hulls  extending 
riverward,  fixed  in  the  ice.  At  last  the  great  mass  of 
congealed  water,  extending  up  the  river  hundreds  of 
miles,  begins  to  move  down  stream.  The  motion  is  at 
first  scarcely  perceptible ;  but,  suddenly,  the  ice  cracks 
and  breaks,  and  fragments  begin  to  glide  swiftly  with 
the  current  of  the  river.  The  various  masses  create  con- 
flicting currents,  and,  presently,  the  surface  of  the  stream 
is  like  a  whirlpool.  Some  boats  are  crushed  like  egg 
shells  between  the  floes ;  cables  snap,  and  others  are 
drawn  out  into  the  midst  of  the  whirling  waters  and  are 
fortunate  indeed  if  they  are  not  overwhelmed  or  forced 
upon  the  ice.  Meantime,  consternation  reigns  upon  the 
levee.  The  multitudes  are  powerless  to  prevent,  yet 
make  frantic  and  futile  efforts  while  they  watch,  the  dis- 
aster. At  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  in  1866,  seventeen 
steamboats  were  crushed  and  sunk  in  a  few  minutes. 
Then  there  are  other  river  disasters ;  steamboats  burned ; 
others  struck  on  snags  and  sunk ;  and  now  and  then  a 
boiler  explosion  makes  up  the  tale  of  horrors  and  pre- 
vents the  Mississippi  from  ever  becoming  monotonous 
or  uninteresting. 

St.  Louis  was  most  unfavorably  affected  by  the  war, 
and  made  to  expiate  her  political  sin  of  1820.  On  the 
border  land  between  the  North  and  the  South,  the  con- 
flict was  carried  on  in  her  very  midst.  Sectional  strife 


ST.  LOUIS.  509 

was  most  bitter  and  keen.  There  was  no  neutrality, 
and  there  could  be  none.  All  were  either  for  or  against; 
families  were  divided  in  deadly  strife ;  and  while  the 
city  suffered  to  a  terrible  degree  from  this  condition  of 
aftairs,  in  back  counties  whole  sections  were  depopulated. 
The  population  being  largely  southern,  either  by  birth 
or  descent,  its  sympathies  were  with  the  South.  The 
class  truly  loyal  was  the  Germans,  who  numbered  about 
60,000  of  the  population,  and  who  were  characterized 

by   the   Secessionists   as    the  "D Dutch."     The 

blockade  of  the  river  reduced  the  whole  business  of  the 
city  to  about  a  third  of  its  former  amount.  Yet,  when 
the  war  was  ended,  St.  Louis  was  quick  to  recover  her 
prostrated  energies.  In  1866,  and  but  two  years  after 
the  war,  the  city  did  more  business  than  in  any  preceding 
year ;  and,  relieved  from  the  incubus  of  slavery,  which 
had  retarded  its  progress,  it  aroused  itself  to  new  life. 

With  the  Quaker-like  simplicity  of  its  outward  ap- 
pearance, its  absence  of  business  rush,  and  its  general 
tranquillity,  St.  Louis'  resemblance  to  the  Quaker  City 
ceases.  It  is  a  town  of  composite  character,  but  from 
its  earliest  existence  has  been  under  Roman  Catholic 
domination.  Even  now  the  Roman  Catholic  element 
predominates  in  its  population.  And  its  French  and 
Spanish  founders,  though  their  quaint  buildings  are  torn 
down  and  replaced  by  more  modern  ones,  and  their  very 
streets  re- named,  have  left  their  impress  upon  the  city. 
Its  many  places  of  amusement,  compared  to  its  popula- 
tion, its  general  gayety,  its  stores  closed  by  sunset  in 
winter,  and  before  sunset  in  summer,  its  billiard  rooms 
open  on  Sunday,  and  its  ball-playing  on  the  same  day, 
all  give  indication  of  its  being  the  home  of  a  people 
whose  ancestors  had  no  New  England  prejudices  against 


510      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

worldly  amusements,  and  in  favor  of  sobriety,  decorum, 
industry,  and  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath. 

St.  Louis  presents  a  pleasing  contrast  to  many  other 
western  cities.  Its  prosperity  is  substantial — not  a  sham. 
The  capital  which  has  paid  for  these  costly  places  of  busi- 
ness and  elegant  residences,  and  is  invested  in  these  gigan- 
tic enterprises,  has  been  created  out  of  the  immense  material 
wealth  of  the  State — not  borrowed  on  a  factitious  credit. 
Its  merchants  do  not  make  princely  fortunes  in  a  day, 
but  what  they  acquire  they  keep.  With  so  satisfactory 
a  past,  the  errors  of  its  youth  atoned  for,  the  future  of 
St.  Louis  cannot  fail  to  be  a  brilliant  one. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SYRACUSE. 

Glimpses  on  the  Rail.  —  Schenectady.  —  Valley  of  the  Mohawk.  — 
"Lover's  Leap."  —  Rome  and  its  Doctor.  —  Oneida  Stone.  —  The 
Lo  Race.  —  Oneida  Community.  —  The  City  of  Salt.  —  The  Six 
Nations.  —  The  Onondagas.  —  Traditions  of  Red  Americans.  — 
Hiawatha.  —  Sacrifice  of  White  Dogs.  —  Ceremonies.  —  The  Lost 
Tribes  of  Israel.  —  Witches  and  Wizards.—  A  Jules  Verne  Story.  — 
The  Salt  Wells  of  Salina.—  Lake  Onondaga.  —  Indian  Knowledge 
of  Salt  Wells.—  "  Over  the  Hills  and  Far  Away."—  A  Castle.— 
Steam  Canal  Boats.  —  Adieux.  —  Westward  Ho  1 


distance  from  Albany  to  Syracuse  by  rail,  on 
_L_  the  line  of  the  New  York  Central,  is  about  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  miles,  or  reckoned  by  language 
on  the  dial,  between  six  and  seven  hours. 

Schenectady,  the  first  stopping  point  on  the  route  out- 
ward, was  once  hovered  under  the  motherly  wings  of 
Albany  —  her  lawful  progeny.  The  embryo  city,  how- 
ever, had  aspirations  of  her  own,  and  set  up  in  the  world 
for  herself.  She  now  rejoices  in  a  population  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  and  has  separated  herself  from 
the  maternal  mart  by  seventeen  miles  of  intervening 
country.  Union  College,  the  alma  mater  of  many  of 
the  sons  of  New  York  and  her  sister  States,  is  located 
at  this  point. 

The  route  from  Albany  to  the  junction  of  the  "Water- 
town  and  Ogdensburg  Road,  at  Rome,  takes  us  through 
the  Valley  of  the  Mohawk  —  one  of  the  loveliest  valleys 
in  the  State.  At  Little  Falls  the  scenery  is  wild  and 
rugged,  and  looking  out  from  the  car  window  to  the 

511 


512      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

opposite  hillside,  where  the  waters  break  into  foam  over 
the  rocks,  set  in  a  dark  framework  of  pines,  the  imagi- 
native traveler  conjectures  at  once  that  this  must  be  the 
scene  of  the  "  Lover's  Leap  " — a  bit  of  romance  rife  in 
this  region.  But  the  Mohawk  rushes  on,  unmindful  of 
those  legendary  lovers;  the  heartless  conductor,  who 
cares  nothing  about  dreams,  shouts  "  all  aboard  ! "  from 
the  platform,  and  the  screech  of  the  engine  whistle 
echoes  down  the  valley,  as  the  train  is  once  more  in 
motion. 

At  Utica  we  make  a  longer  stop.  This  point  is  the 
largest  place  between  Albany  and  Syracuse,  and  is  as 
handsome  a  city  as  sits  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk. 
The  Black  River  Railroad  joins  the  main  line  of  the 
New  York  Central  here,  and  it  is  also  the  location  of  the 
State  Lunatic  Asylum. 

Rome  comes  next  in  order,  in  importance  and  popula- 
tion, and  is  the  last  place  of  any  note  on  the  road  to 
Syracuse.  It  is  a  stirring  little  city  of  about  ten  or 
eleven  thousand  inhabitants,  and  at  least  some  of  its 
citizens  have  mastered  the  art  of  advertising,  if  one  may 
judge  from  the  pamphlets  which  flood  the  arriving  and 
departing  trains.  We  are  repeatedly  made  aware  of  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  dwellers  in  Rome  is  a  doctor,  and 
that  he  doats  on  curing — not  corns,  but  cancers. 

The  Midland  Road  from  Oswego,  and  the  Watertown 
Road — those  connecting  arterial  threads  from  Lake  On- 
tario and  Northern  New  York — unite  with  the  main 
artery,  the  Central,  here,  and  the  flow  of  human  freight 
down  these  channels  is  continuous  and  unceasing. 

The  second  station  from  Rome,  on  the  road  to  Syra- 
cuse, is  Oneida — so  named  from  the  tribe  of  red  men 
who,  less  than  a  century  ago,  occupied  this  particular 


SYRACUSE.  513 

region.  A  tradition  once  existed  among  the  Oneidas 
that  they  were  a  branch  of  the  Onondagas,  to  whom 
they  were  allied  by  relationship  and  language.  Long 
ago  they  lived  on  the  southern  shore  of  Oneida  Lake, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  but  afterwards  their 
habitation  was  made  higher  up  the  valley.  The  famous 
"  Oneota"  or  Oneida  Stone  became  their  talisman  and 
the  centre  of  their  attractions.  Many  of  their  tribe 
were  distinguished  as  orators  and  statesmen. 

The  Oneida  "  Community  "  live  about  two  miles  back 
from  the  station,  and,  notwithstanding  their  peculiar 
religious  belief  and  social  practices,  they  have  achieved 
a  reputation  for  quiet  thrift,  industry  and  harmony, 
which  their  more  Puritanic  neighbors  would  do  well  to 
emulate. 

But,  at  last,  our  train  enters  the  outskirts  of  Syracuse, 
and  penetrating  the  heart  of  the  city,  rumbles  inside  the 
gates  of  the  New  York  Central  Station  at  this  place. 
Outside,  all  is  hurry  and  bustle,  .and  confusion,  as  we 
descend  the  steps  and  elbow  our  way  through  the  crowd, 
to  run  the  gauntlet  of  hack  drivers  and  baggage  express- 
men, with  their  plated  caps  and  deafening  calls. 

Syracuse  is  sometimes  known  as  the  Central  City,  on 
account  of  its  location  near  the  geographical  centre  of 
New  York.  It  was  first  settled  in  1787,  and  did  not 
pass  the  limits  of  a  small  village  until  the  completion 
of  the  Erie  canal,  in  1825.  Two  canals  and  three  or 
four  lines  of  railway  now  centre  here,  and  contribute  to 
the  growth  of  this  enterprising  city.  The  region  sur- 
rounding Syracuse  is  rife  with  the  romantic  history  of 
that  once  powerful  Indian  Confederacy  known  as  the 
Six  Nations,  now  fast  fading  from  the  memory  of  men. 
The  site  of  their  ancient  Council  House  was  on  Onon- 


514      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

daga  Creek,  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  city,  and  is 
still  held  sacred  to  their  traditions  by  the  remnant  of  the 
lost  tribes  now  occupying  the  Indian  reservation.  The 
Onondagas  became  the  leading  nation  of  the  Confed- 
eracy. No  business  of  importance,  touching  the  Six 
Nations,  was  transacted,  except  at  Onondaga.  They  held 
the  key  of  the  great  Council  House;  they  kept  the  sacred 
council  fire  ever  burning.  From  what  portion  of  the 
country  they  emigrated  before  occupying  this  region  is 
unknown,  but  there  is  a  very  early  tradition  among  them 
that,  many  hundred  moons  ago,  their  forefathers  came 
from  the  North,  having  inhabited  a  territory  along  the 
northern  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  After  a  lapse  of 
time  there  was  an  exodus  of  the  powerful  tribe  to  the 
hills  and  hollows  of  Onondaga. 

The  River  God  of  this  nation  was  named  Hiawatha — 
which  meant  "very  wise."  He  always  embarked  in  a 
white  canoe,  which  was  carefully  guarded  in  a  lodge 
especially  set  apart  -for  that  purpose.  Their  favorite 
equipments  were  white.  White  plumes,  from  the  heron, 
were  worn  in  their  head-bands  when  they  went  on  the 
war  path;  white  dogs  were  sacrificed.  The  yearly  sacri- 
fice of  the  dogs,  among  the  Onondagas,  was  a  ceremony 
of  great  importance  with  the  tribe,  and  occurred  at  one 
of  the  five  stated  festivals  of  the  Six  Nations.  On  the 
great  sacrificial  day  it  was  the  habit  of  the  people  to 
assemble  at  the  Council  House  in  large  numbers.  Early 
in  the  morning,  immense  fires  were  built,  guns  were  dis- 
charged, and  loud  hallooing  increased  the  noise.  Half 
a  cord  of  wood,  arranged  in  alternate  layers,  was  placed 
near  the  Council  House,  by  a  select  committee  of  man- 
agers, for  the  sacrificial  offering.  The  two  officiating 
priests  for  the  occasion,  as  well  as  the  high  priest,  were 


SYRACUSE.  515 

dressed  in  long,  loose  robes  of  white.  At  about  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  two  priests  appear.  The 
white  dogs  following  them  are  painted  with  red  figures, 
and  adorned  with  belts  of  wampum,  feathers  and 
ribbons.  The  dogs  are  then  lassooed  and  suffocated,  amid 
yells  and  the  firing  of  guns.  After  some  intervening 
ceremonies,  the  details  of  which  are  too  long  for  recital 
here,  a  procession  is  formed,  led  by  the  priests  in  white, 
followed  by  the  managers,  bearing  the  dogs  on  their 
shoulders.  A  chant  is  sung  as  the  procession  marches 
around  the  burning  pile  three  successive  times;  the  dogs 
are  then  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  officiating  priest,  a  prayer 
is  offered  to  the  Great  Spirit  and  the  high  priest,  lifting 
the  dogs,  casts  them  into  the  fire.  After  this,  baskets  of 
herbs  and  tobacco  are  thrown,  at  intervals,  into  the  fire, 
as  propitiating  sacrifices. 

Their  idea  of  these  sacrifices  was,  that  the  sins  of  the 
people  were,  in  some  mysterious  manner,  transferred 
yearly  to  the  two  priests  in  white,  who,  in  turn,  conveyed 
them  to  the  dogs.  Thus  the  burnt  offering  expiated  the 
sins  of  the  people  for  a  year. 

These  ideas  and  customs  are  so  singularly  similar  to 
the  ancient  Jewish  religious  rites  as  to  suggest  a  possible 
origin  from  the  same  source.  The  mystical  council  fire 
of  the  Six  Nations,  which  was  kept  always  burning  by 
the  Onondagas,  who  had  charge  of  it,  and  which,  if  ex- 
tinguished, was  supposed  to  prophesy  the  destruction  of 
the  nation,  may  have  a  deeper  meaning  than  that  at- 
tached to  it  by  the  chiefs  themselves.  It  may  possibly 
point  to  a  common  parentage  with  the  ever-burning 
flame  in  the  Vestal  Temple  at  Rome,  whose  eclipse  en- 
dangered the  safety  of  the  city.  Another  point  of 
resemblance  may  be  noted.  Time,  which  is  reckoned 


516      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

among  the  Red  men  by  moons,  also  suggests  the  Jewish 
year,  which  began  with  the  new  moon,  and  was  reckoned 
by  lunar  months. 

The  Six  Nations  had  a  firm  belief  in  witches  and 
wizards,  and  executed  them,  on  the  discovery  of  their 
supposed  witchcraft,  with  a  zeal  and  spirit  worthy  of  our 
early  Christian  fathers.  One  old  Indian  used  to  relate 
a  story  something  on  the  Jules  Verne  order.  He  said 
that,  as  he  stepped  out  of  his  cabin  one  evening,  he  sank 
down  deep  into  an  immense  and  brilliantly-lighted 
cavern,  full  of  flaming  torches.  Hundreds  of  witches 
and  wizards  were  there  congregated,  who  immediately 
ejected  him.  Early  next  morning  he  laid  the  matter 
before  the  assembled  chiefs  at  the  Council  House,  who 
asked  him  whether  he  could  recognize  any  whom  he 
saw  ?  The  sagacious  Red  man  thought  he  could,  and 
singled  out  many  through  the  village,  male  and  female, 
who  were  doomed  to  an  untimely  execution,  on  the  evi- 
dence of  this  person's  word. 

The  Senacas,  another  numerous  and  powerful  nation 
of  the  Confederacy,  were  always  noted  for  the  talent 
and  eloquence  of  their  orators  and  statesmen.  Corn 
Planter,  Red  Jacket,  and  other  celebrities,  came  of  this 
tribe. 

Syracuse  is  celebrated  for  its  salt,  the  country  over; 
and  the  most  singular  thing  about  it  is  that  the  salt 
wells  surround  a  body  of  fresh  water.  This  sheet  of 
water  bears  the  name  of  Onondaga  Lake,  and  is  six 
miles  long  by  one  mile  wide.  It  is  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  from  the  heart  of  the  city.  A  stratum  of  marl, 
from  three  to  twelve  feet  thick,  underlaid  by  marly  clay, 
separates  the  salt  springs  from  the  fresh  waters  of  the 
lake.  The  wells  vary  in  depth,  from  two  hundred  to 


SYRACUSE.  517 

three  hundred  feet,  and  the  brine  is  forced  from  them, 
by  pumps,  into  large  reservoirs,  which  supply  the  evapo- 
rating works.  The  salt  is  separated  from  the  water 
partly  by  solar  evaporation  and  partly  by  boiling.  The 
reservoirs  for  the  solar  salt  evaporation  cover  about 
seven  hundred  acres  of  land.  The  brine  is  boiled  in 
large  iron  kettles,  holding  about  a  hundred  gallons, 
which  are  placed  in  blocks  of  brick  work,  in  one  or  two 
long  rows,  the  whole  length  of  the  block.  It  takes 
about  thirty-three  and  a  fourth  gallons  of  brine  to  make 
a  bushel  of  salt,  which  will  average  from  fifty  to  fifty- 
six  pounds  in  weight. 

These  salt  wells  were  known  to  the  Indians  at  a  very 
early  period — Onondaga  salt  being  in  common  use 
among  the  Delawares  in  1770,  by  whom  it  was  brought 
to  Quebec  for  sale. 

Le  Moyne,  a  Jesuit  missionary,  who  had  lived  among 
the  Hurons,  and  who  first  came  to  Onondaga  in  1653, 
with  a  party  of  Huron  and  Onondaga  chiefs,  is  supposed 
to  be  the  first  white  man  who  personally  knew  about 
the  springs,  though  Father  Lallemant  had  previously 
written  of  them.  In  a  letter  which  Colonel  Comfort 
Tyler  wrote  to  Dr.  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  in  1822, 
the  first  manufacture  of  salt  at  this  place  by  the  whites, 
in  1788,  is  described.  He  says:  "In  the  month  of 
May,  1788,  the  family,  wanting  salt,  obtained  about  a 
pound  from  the  Indians,  which  they  had  made  from  tht 
waters  of  the  springs  upon  the  shore  of  the  lake.  The 
Indians  offered  to  discover  the  water  to  us.  Accordingly, 
I  went  with  an  Indian  guide  to  the  lake,  taking  along 
an  iron  kettle  of  fifteen  gallons  capacity.  This  he 
placed  in  his  canoe  and  steered  out  of  the  mouth  of 
Onondaga  Creek,  easterly,  into  a  pass  since  called  Mud 


518      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Creek.  After  passing  over  the  marsh,  then  covered  with 
about  three  feet  of  water,  and  steering  toward  the  bluff 
of  hard  land  (now  that  part  of  Syracuse  known  as 
Salina),  he  fastened  his  canoe,  pointed  to  a  hole,  appa- 
rently artificial,  and  said :  "  There  is  the  salt !  " 

Salina,  or  the  first  ward,  as  it  is  frequently  spoken  of, 
lies  partly  upon  the  shores  of  this  lovely  lake  of  Onon- 
daga,  and  enjoys  the  advantages  of  a  close  proximity  to 
the  saline  atmosphere  of  the  wells.  The  drives  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  lake  and  about  the  neighboring  localities 
afford  an  ever-shifting  panorama  of  beautiful  views,  with 
glimpses  of  the  blue  Onoudaga  at  all  points.  On  a 
breezy  day,  in  the  early  part  of  May,  1875,  when  the 
air  was  soft  with  hints  of  coming  summer,  and  the  vio- 
lets along  the  river  banks  were  just  putting  on  their 
hoods  of  blue,  I  took  one  of  those  long  and  delightful 
drives  which  so  exhilarates  the  blood  and  gives  a  kind 
of  champagne  sparkle  to  the  mind.  If  there  are  any 
known  remedial  agents  which  can  possibly  be  an  im- 
provement on  pure  air  and  sunshine,  will  you  tell  us 
what  they  are,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis?  My  companion  was 
keen-witted  and  full  of  jollity;  we  had  a  spirited 
animal,  and  miles  upon  miles  of  space  quickly  vanished 
behind  us,  as  we  sped  onward  over  the  smooth  roadway. 
The  hills  seemed  to  open  wide  their  portals  and  close 
again  as  we  passed ;  the'valleys  allured  us  with  their 
romantic,  winding  roads,  and  Lake  Onondaga,  viewed 
from  all  points  of  the  compass,  tossed  itself  into  a  mul- 
titude of  little  waves  which  sparkled  in  the  sunshine  like 
a  thousand  diamonds.  The  sky,  changeful  as  April, 
alternated  between  floating  fields  of  atmospheric  blue 
and  pillars  of  gray  cloud.  As  we  rounded  the  last 
curve  of  the  lake,  the  tall  chimneys  and  long,  low 


SYRACUSE.  519 

buildings  of  the  salt  works  at  Salina  came  into  view, 
forming  a  more  conspicuous  than  elegant  feature  of  the 
landscape. 

The  principal  street  for  retail  business  in  Syracuse  is 
named  Salina,  and  it  always  wears  an  air  of  brisk  trade 
and  enterprise.  The  large  dry  goods  houses  of  McCarthy 
and  of  Milton  Price  are  located  on  this  street.  Some 
of  the  public  edifices  are  built  of  Onondaga  limestone, 
quarried  a  few  miles  out  of  the  city.  It  makes  very 
handsome  building  material,  as  the  Court  House  and 
other  structures  will  testify.  The  ranking  hotels  of 
Syracuse  are  the  Vanderbilt  and  Globe,  though  the 
Remington,  Syracuse  and  Empire  Hotels  are  well-kept 
and  well-conducted  houses. 

The  Erie  Canal  runs  through  the  heart  of  the  city, 
and  the  bridges  over  it  are  arranged  with  draws.  The 
first  steam  canal  boat  I  ever  saw  lay  moored  at  this 
place,  at  the  corner  of  Water  and  Clinton  streets.  It 
was  gay  with  new  paint  and  floating  pennons,  and 
created  quite  a  sensation  on  its  first  trip  out.  It  belonged 
to  Greenway,  the  great  ale  man,  and  was  named  after 
his  daughter. 

The  High  School,  on  "West  Genesee  street,  has  a 
delightful  location  on  the  banks  of  Onondaga  Creek, 
and  combines  with  its  other  advantages  that  of  a  public 
library.  It  has  a  free  reading  room,  thrown  open  to  the 
city  at  large,  and  a  choice  collection  of  many  thousand 
volumes  adorn  its  shelves.  Sitting  at  the  open  window 
and  listening  to  the  noisy  waters  of  the  creek  as  it  flows 
past,  intermingled  with  an  occasional  bird  carol  over- 
head, I  could  almost  imagine  myself  out  in  the  heart  of 
the  country,  away  from  the  struggling  masses  of  the 
crowded  marts,  in  their  mad  race  after  wealth — with 


520      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

nothing  more  inharmonious  around  me  than  the  bird 
orchestra  of  some  imaginary  June  sky,  the  low  sweep 
of  waters  and  the  sound  of  the  summer  wind  among 
the  pines. 

Syracuse  rates  herself  sixty  thousand  strong,  and  I 
am  unable  to  say  whether  the  hard  figures  will  bear  her 
out  in  this  assertion.  Perhaps,  however,  a  small  margin 
of  egotism  ought  to  be  subtracted  from  our  estimate  of 
ourselves,  especially  when  "  ourselves  "  means  a  city. 

James  street  is  decidedly  the  handsomest  thoroughfare 
in  Syracuse.  It  is  wide,  well  paved,  and  two  miles  or 
more  in  length.  On  it  are  congregated,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  the  finest  residences  of  the  city.  These  are 
surrounded,  for  the  most  part,  by  spacious  grounds,  and 
some  of  them  by  groves  of  primeval  forest  growths. 
The  street  is  an  inclined  plane  oil  one  side,  with  a  gentle 
declivity  on  the  other.  From  its  top,  quite  an  extensive 
prospect  opens  to  the  view,  taking  in  most  of  the  city  of 
salt,  and  its  enclosing  amphitheatre  of  hills.  Looking 
down  the  street,  and  over  across  the  valley,  the  gray 
turrets  of  Yates'  Castle  can  be  seen,  nearly  hidden  by 
its  surrounding  trees. 

"A  castle?"  I  hear  my  imaginary  reader  question. 
"Yes,"  I  answer,  a  castle, — the  real,  genuine,  article — 
towers,  turrets,  gate-keeper's  lodge  and  all;  nothing 
lacking  but  moat  and  drawbridge,  to  transport  one  to 
the  times  of  tournament  and  troubadours — of  knight- 
errantry  and  fair  ladies  riding  to  the  chase  with  hawk 
and  hound. 

A  Latin  motto,  on  the  coat  of  arms  adorning  the 
arched  gateway,  points  to  an  ancestry  of  noble  blood. 
But,  alas  for  greatness!  not  even  the  lodge-keeper's 
family  knew  the  meaning  of  the  Latin  inscription.  We 


SYRACUSE.  521 

learned,  however,  that  the  armorial  emblems  were  of 
English  origin,  and  belonged,  possibly,  to  the  times  of 
the  royal  Georges.  The  grounds  about  the  castle  are 
quite  in  keeping  with  the  building  itself.  Winding 
roads,  rustic  bridges,  statuary,  summer-houses  and  foun- 
tains, fitly  environ  this  antique  pile. 

Just  opposite  this  place,  on  the  hill-top,  stands  the 
Syracuse  University — its  white  walls  outlined  in  bold 
relief  against  the  sky.  It  is  a  Methodist  institution,  and 
its  chief  office  is  to  prepare  young  men  for  the  ministry, 
and  teach  the  youthful  idea  how  to  shoot,  in  accordance 
with  modern  theology.  The  location  is  breezy  enough, 
and  high  enough,  to  satisfy  almost  any  one's  aspirations, 
andj  if  height  has  anything  to  do  with  ideas,  the  thoughts 
of  these  young  students  ought  to  be  well-nigh  heavenly. 

But,  at  last,  we  are  compelled  to  say  good-bye  to 
Syracuse,  and  all  its  pleasant  associations,  to  say  nothing 
of  its  salt.  Westward  the  star  of  Empire  takes  its  way, 
and  we  have  engaged  a  seat  on  the  same  train.  It  is 
with  real  regret  that  we  part  company  with  these  cities  of 
our  beloved  New  York — Syracuse  not  the  least  among 
them.  But  the  arrival  of  the  midnight  "  Lightning 
Express"  for  Rochester  cuts  short  our  musings,  and  we 
are  soon  whirling  away  in  the  darkness,  leaving  the 
country  of  the  Onondagas  far  behind  us,  slumbering  in 
the  arms  of  night 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

TORONTO. 

Situation  of  Toronto.— The  Bay.— History.— Rebellion  of  1837.— 
Fenian  Invasion  of  1866. — Population. — General  Appearance. — 
Sleighing. — Streets. — Railways. — Commerce. —  Manufactures. — 
Schools  and  Colleges. — Queen  Park. — Churches. — Benevolent 
Institutions. —  Halls  and  Other  Public  Buildings. —  Hotels. — 
Newspapers. — General  Characteristics  and  Progress. 

rpORONTO,  the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Ontario, 
JL  is  situated  on  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario, 
on  a  beautiful  and  nearly  circular  bay,  about  five  miles 
in  length,  formed  by  a  long,  narrow,  curved  tongue  of 
land,  extending  out  into  the  lake  in  a  southwest  direction. 
This  harbor  is  capable  of  receiving  the  largest  vessels 
upon  the  lake,  and  is  defended  at  its  entrance  by  a  fort 
upon  the  extreme  end  of  the  peninsula,  which  is  called 
Gibraltar  Point.  This  fort  was  thoroughly  repaired  in 
1864,  and  mounted  with  the  most  efficient  modern 
ordnance. 

Toronto  was  founded  in  1794,  by  Governor  Simcoe, 
who  gave  it  the  name  of  York.  In  1813,  it  was  twice 
captured  by  the  Americans,  who  burned  the  public 
buildings  and  destroyed  the  fortifications.  It  was  in- 
corporated as  a  city  in  1834,  when  its  name  was  changed 
to  Toronto,  an  Indian  word,  signifying  "  The  place  of 
meeting."  It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Rebellion  in 
1837,  when  Sir  Francis  Head,  then  Governor  of  Upper 
Canada,  dissolved  the  House,  for  having  stopped  the 
supplies,  as  a  retaliatory  measure  upon  his  refusal  to 
grant  an  elective  legislative  council.  Head  had  sent 

522 


TORONTO.  523 

away  from  Upper  Canada  the  whole  of  the  Queen's 
army,  but  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  the  militia,  he 
succeeded  in  suppressing  the  insurrection.  The  city 
also  suffered  severely  from  the  fire  of  1849.  It  has  no 
manufactures  of  any  importance,  but,  like  most  of 
Western  Canada,  is  chiefly  dependent  upon  agriculture. 

The  growth  of  Toronto  has  been  more  rapid  than 
that  of  any  other  city  in  Canada.  Though  of  such 
recent  origin  compared  with  many  Canadian  towns,  it  is 
now  second  to  Montreal  in  its  size  and  population,  the 
latter  having  increased  from  twelve  hundred  in  1837  to 
upwards  of  eighty  thousand  at  the  present  time.  The 
site  of  the  city  is  low,  the  surrounding  country  being 
level,  but  free  from  swamp  and  perfectly  dry.  The 
ground  rises  gently  from  the  shores  of  the  lake.  The 
scenery  in  the  vicinity  is  tame  and  comparatively  mo- 
notonous, though  not  unpleasing.  The  city  lies  along 
the  shores  of  the  lake  for  something  over  two  miles,  and 
extends  inward  about  a  mile  and  a  half. 

As  one  approaches  Toronto  its  outlines  appear  pic- 
turesque, being  varied  and  broken  by  an  unusual  number 
of  handsome  spires.  The  traveler  will  be  pleasantly 
surprised,  as  he  enters  the  city,  at  the  extent  and  excel- 
ence  of  its  public  edifices,  the  number  of  its  churches, 
and  its  general  handsome  and  well-to-do  aspect.  Many 
of  the  houses  and  business  structures  are  built  of  light- 
colored  brick,  having  a  soft  and  cheerful  appearance. 
The  streets  are  laid  out  regularly,  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles,  and,  as  a  general  thing,  are  well  paved.  In 
the  winter  time  they  are  filled  with  sleighs,  and  the  ab 
is  alive  with  the  music  of  sleigh-bells.  These  sleighs 
are,  some  of  them,  most  elegant  in  form  and  finish,  and 
provided  with  most  costly  furs.  Every  boy  has  his 


524      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

hand-sled  or  "  toboggan."  At  the  same  season  of  the 
year  skating  upon  the  bay  is  a  favorite  amusement. 
King  and  Yonge  streets  are  the  leading  thoroughfares 
and  fashionable  promenades,  being  lined  with  handsome 
retail  stores  which  would  do  credit  to  any  city  in 
America.  Other  important  business  streets  are  Front, 
Queen,  York,  Wellington  and  Bay. 

Five  railways  centre  at  Toronto,  connecting  it  with 
every  section  of  Canada,  the  West  and  the  South.  The 
principal  of  these  are  the  Grand  Trunk  and  Great 
Western  railways,  which  connect  the  city  by  through 
lines  with  the  East  and  West.  While  navigation  is 
open  magnificent  steamers  connect  it  with  all  points  on 
the  lake,  and  carry  on  an  extensive  commerce.  It 
imports  large  quantities  of  lumber,  both  manufactured 
and  unmanufactured ;  wheat  and  other  grain,  soap,  salt 
and  glue ;  while  foundries,  distilleries,  breweries,  tan- 
neries, rope-walks,  paper  and  flour  mills,  furnish 
products  which  reach  markets  throughout  the  Provinces 
and  States. 

Toronto  is  the  centre  of  the  Canada  school  system, 
and  its  educational  institutions  are  numerous  and  of  the 
highest  order.  It  has  Normal  and  Model  schools,  in 
the  first  of  which  teachers  are  exclusively  trained. 
These  schools,  with  the  Educational  Museum,  built  in 
the  plain  Italian  style,  are  picturesquely  grouped  in 
park-like  grounds,  on  Church  street.  The  Museum 
contains  a  collection  of  curiosities,  and  a  number  of  good 
paintings  and  casts.  The  University  of  Toronto  exhibits 
the  finest  buildings  in  the  city,  and  the  finest  of  their 
kind  in  America.  They  stand  in  a  large  park,  ap- 
proached by  College  avenue,  half  a  mile  in  length,  and 
shaded  by  double  rows  of  trees.  The  buildings,  which 


TORONTO.  525 

are  of  Norman  architecture,  of  gray  rubble  stone,  trimmed 
with  Ohio  and  Caen  stone,  form  the  sides  of  a  large 
quadrangle.  It  was  founded  in  1843 ;  possesses  a 
library  of  twenty  thousand  volumes,  and  a  fine  museum 
of  natural  history,  and  has  attached  to  it  an  observa- 
tory. Knox  College,  Presbyterian,  is  situated  a  short 
distance  north  of  the  University,  and  is  a  large  building, 
in  the  Collegiate-Gothic  style.  Trinity  College,  in  Queen 
street  west,  overlooks  the  bay,  and  is  an  extensive  and 
picturesque  structure,  turreted  and  gabled,  and  sur- 
rounded by  extensive  grounds.  Upper  Canada  College 
is  found  in  King  street  near  John. 

Adjoining  the  University  grounds  is  Queen  Park, 
embracing  the  most  elevated  quarter  of  the  city,  and 
including  fifty  acres,  handsomely  laid  out.  In  this  park 
a  brownstone  shaft,  surmounted  by  a  colossal  statue  of 
Brittania,  perpetuates  the  memory  of  the  Canadians  who 
fell  in  repelling  the  Fenian  invasion  in  1866.  This 
park  is  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  lake,  and  is  surrounded  by  handsome  public 
buildings  and  private  residences. 

The  Episcopal  Cathedral  of  St.  James,  at  the  corner 
of  King  and  Church  streets,  is  a  spacious  edifice,  in  the 
early  English  style,  with  lofty  tower  and  spire,  and 
elaborate  open  roof.  It  was  built  in  1852,  and  is 
surrounded  by  well  shaded  grounds.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral  of  St.  Michael,  fronting  on  Bond 
street,  is  a  large,  decorated  Gothic  structure,  with  stained 
windows,  and  a  spire  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high. 
The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  in  McGill  street,  is 
the  finest  church  of  that  denomination  in  America.  Its 
massive  tower  is  surmounted  by  graceful  pinnacles,  and 
its  interior  is  tastefully  and  richly  decorated.  Knox's 


526      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Church  has  a  beautiful  spire.  One  of  the  finest  church 
edifices  in  the  Dominion  is  the  Jarvis  street  Baptist 
Church,  in  the  decorated  Gothic  style.  St.  Andrews 
Presbyterian  is  a  massive  stone  structure,  which  dates 
back  to  the  Norman  style  of  architecture. 

Toronto  contains  many  benevolent  institutions,  hospi- 
tals and  asylums.  Prominent  among  them  is  the 
Provincial  Lunatic  Asylum,  a  large  and  handsome 
building,  situated  west  of  the  city,  and  surrounded  by 
two  hundred  acres  of  handsomely  ornamented  grounds. 
The  General  Hospital  is  a  fine  structure,  east  of  the  city, 
in  Don  street,  near  Sumach. 

The  Normal  School  Building,  with  its  beautifully 
laid  out  grounds,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  spots  in 
the  city,  and  the  building  is  said  to  be  the  largest  of 
the  kind  in  America.  There  is  very  little  fine  scenery 
in  the  environs. 

One  of  the  most  strikingly  beautiful  buildings  of 
Toronto  is  Osgood  Hall,  in  Queen  street,  an  imposing 
structure,  of  Grecian-Ionic  architecture,  the  seat  of  the 
Superior  Law  Courts  of  Upper  Canada,  and  contain- 
ing an  extensive  law  library.  St.  Lawrence  Hall,  in 
King  street,  is  a  stately  structure,  in  the  Italian  style, 
surmounted  by  a  dome,  containing  a  public  hall  and 
reading-room.  Masonic  Hall,  an  attractive  stone 
building,  is  in  Toronto  street.  The  city  contains  two 
Opera  Houses:  the  Grand,  capable  of  seating  two 
thousand  persons,  and  the  Royal,  with  accommodations 
for  about  fifteen  hundred  persons.  The  Post  Office,  a 
handsome  stone  building,  stands  near  the  head  of  Toronto 
street.  The  Custom  House  is  of  cut  stone,  of  imposing 
proportions,  extending  from  Front  street  to  the  Espla- 
nade. The  City  Hall  stands  in  Front  street  near  the 


TORONTO.  527 

Lake  Shore,  in  the  midst  of  an  open  square,  and  is  an 
unpretentious  structure,  in  the  Italian  style.  Near  by  is 
the  extensive  Lawrence  Market.  The  Court  House 
is  in  Church  street. 

Of  the  hotels,  the  Rossin  House,  corner  of  King  and 
York  streets;  Queen's  Hotel,  in  Front  street;  the 
American  House,  in  Young  street;  and  the  Revere 
House,  in  King  street,  are  the  most  noteworthy. 

Toronto  takes  a  front  rank  in  literature,  a  large  num- 
ber of  newspapers  and  periodicals,  daily,  weekly,  and 
monthly,  being  issued  from  its  presses.  It  is  unlike,  in 
many  respects,  its  sister  cities  of  Lower  Canada.  It  has 
more  of  a  nineteenth  century  air,  and  more  of  American 
and  less  of  European  characteristics,  than  Montreal  and 
Quebec.  The  French  Canadians  form  a  smaller  pro- 
portion of  its  inhabitants.  The  people  in  the  streets  are 
well  dressed  and  comfortable  looking,  stout  and  sturdy, 
though  not  so  tall,  on  an  average,  as  the  people  of  New 
York.  An  educated  population  is  growing  up,  and 
Toronto  already  ranks  well,  in  general  intelligence  and 
public  enterprise,  with  other  cities  of  like  magnitude 
in  the  States  while  it  outranks  all  others  on  Canadian 
soil. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

WASHINGTON. 

Situation  of  the  National  Capital. — Site  Selected  by  Washington. 
— Statues  of  General  Andrew  Jackson,  Scott,  McPherson, 
Rawlins. — Lincoln  Emancipation  Group. — Navy  Yard  Bridge. 

—  Capitol    Building.  —  The    White    House.  —  Department   of 
State,  War  and  Navy. — The   Treasury   Department.  —  Patent 
Office. — Post     Office     Department. — Agricultural    Building. — 
Army    Medical     Museum.  —  Government     Printing     Office.  — 
United     States     Barracks. — Smithsonian     Institute. — National 
Museum. — The  Washington  Monument. — Corcoran  Art  Gallery. 

—  National    Medical    College. — Deaf  and    Dumb   Asylum.  — 
Increase  of  Population. — Washington's  Future  Greatness. 

"TYTASHINGTON,  the  Capital  of  the  United  States 
V  V  of  America,  is  situated  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Potomac,  between  the 
Anacostia  or  eastern  branch  of  that  river,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five  miles  from  the  mouth  of  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  At  an  early  period,  indeed,  before  the  clamor 
of  war  had  fairly  ceased,  or  the  royal  standard  of 
England  had  been  driven  from  its  shores,  the  necessity 
of  a  territory  which  should  be  under  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  of  Congress  had  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  founders  of  the  new  Republic.  The  possession  of 
such  a  territory  formed  an  important  feature  in  the 
debates  upon  the  framing  of  the  Constitution,  and  it  was 
only  forty-eight  days  after  the  last  act  of  ratification 
that  the  Capital  City  was,  by  solemn  enactment  of 
Congress,  located  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  beautiful 
Potomac. 

528 


WASHINGTON.  529 

The  site  of  the  Capital  was  selected  by  General 
Washington,  the  beloved  first  President  of  the  Republic, 
and  covers  an  undulating  tract  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
river.  From  the  rugged  elevations  on  the  borders  of 
Rock  Creek,  a  crescent-shaped  ridge  crosses  the  northern 
portion  of  the  city,  which  is  abruptly  sundered,  as  it  were, 
to  admit  the  passage  of  a  small  stream  called  the  Tiber. 
From  this  point  the  ridge  ascends,  gradually  expanding 
into  the  extensive  plateau  of  Capitol  Hill,  overlooking 
the  Anacostia  on  the  east.  Within  this  encircling  ridge 
the  surface  declines,  in  gentle  slopes  and  terraces,  down 
to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac.  From  the  lower  falls  of 
the  river  at  Georgetown,  beyond  the  outlying  spurs  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  a  chain  of  low  wooded  hills  extend 
across  the  north,  which,  continuing  along  the  opposite 
shores  of  the  Anacostia  and  Potomac,  emerge  again  in 
the  hills  on  the  Virginia  side  of  that  river,  presenting 
the  appearance  of  a  vast  amphitheatre,  in  the  centre  of 
which  stands  the  Capitol. 

The  mean  altitude  of  the  city  is  about  forty  feet  above 
the  ordinary  low  tide  of  the  Potomac ;  the  soil  on  which 
it  is  built  is  generally  a  yellowish-clay  intermixed  with 
gravel.  In  making  excavations  for  wells  and  cisterns, 
near  New  Jersey  avenue,  trees  were  found,  in  a  good 
state  of  preservation,  at  a  depth  of  from  six  to  forty- 
eight  feet  below  the  surface. 

The  Tiber,  a  little  stream,  with  its  tributaries,  passes 
through  the  city.  Tradition  affirms  that  this  stream 
received  its  name  more  than  a  century  before  Washing- 
ton city  was  founded,  in  the  belief  and  with  the  predic- 
tion that  there  would  arise  on  its  banks,  in  the  future,  a 
Capital  destined  to  rival  in  magnificent  grandeur  that 
which  crowned  the  banks  of  its  great  historic  namesake. 


530      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  streams  forming  this  river  have  their  source 
among  the  hills  to  the  east,  and  enter  the  city  in  several 
directions,  the  principal  branch  winding  off  to  the  south- 
west, around  the  base  of  Capitol  Hill,  across  Pennsyl- 
vania avenue,  to  the  Botanical  Gardens.  Originally  its 
course  continued  along  the  Mall  and  emptied  into  the 
Potomac  immediately  west  of  the  Washington  Monu- 
ment, but  subsequently  it  was  diverted  into  the  canal, 
the  filling  up  of  which  caused  still  other  changes.  The 
Tiber  and  its  tributaries  were  utilized  by  diverting  them 
into  the  sewerage  system  of  the  central  and  southern 
portions  of  the  city ;  consequently,  although  the  stream 
traverses  one  of  the  most  populous  sections,  its  course  is 
not  visible,  the  current  flowing  beneath  heavy  brick 
arches  upon  which  buildings  have  been  erected,  and 
avenues,  streets  and  parks  laid  out.  In  primitive  days 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber  were  covered  with  heavy  forests, 
while  shad,  herring  and  other  fish,  in  their  season,  were 
taken  from  its  waters,  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  hill 
upon  which  the  Capitol  now  stands. 

There  is  no  city  in  the  Union  which  presents  to  the 
thoughtful  and  truly  patriotic  American  so  many 
objects  of  interest  as  does  the  city  of  "Washington.  First 
of  all,  this  feeling  is  intensified  by  the  fact  of  its  having 
been  located  and  founded  by  the  great,  immortal  Pater 
Patrice  whose  illustrious  name  it  has  the  honor  of 
bearing.  A  plan  of  the  city  was  prepared  in  1791,  by 
Peter  L'  Enfant,  a  French  engineer  of  fine  education 
and  decided  genius,  who  had  served  in  the  Continental 
army  with  such  distinction  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
General  Washington.  He  was  assisted  in  the  work  by 
the  advice  and  suggestions  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  who, 
while  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States, 


WASHINGTON.  531 

had  studied  the  plans  of  the  principal  cities  visited  in 
Europe,  with  a  view  to  the  future  wants  of  his  country, 
and  was  prepared,  by  the  aid  of  his  personal  knowledge 
of  their  details,  to  contribute  valuable  information  and 
suggestions. 

It  is  evident  that  the  predominating  object  in  design- 
ing a  plan  for  the  city,  was  first  to  secure  the  most 
eligible  situations  for  the  different  public  buildings,  and 
to  arrange  the  squares  and  areas  so  that  the  most 
extended  views  might  be  obtained  from  every  direction. 
The  amplest  arrangements  were  also  made  by  the  found- 
ers of  Washington  for  its  rapid  growth  and  expansion, 
while  they  evidently  designed  and  anticipated  its  being 
magnificently  built  up  and  embellished.  The  indifference 
of  the  Government  and  people  has  permitted  these  sug- 
gestions to  remain  too  long  unheeded ;  yet  it  is  consoling 
to  those  possessing  an  intelligent  patriotism  and  proud 
love  of  country,  to  know  that  the  neglected  condition  of 
the  Capital  of  the  United  States  for  nearly  three-fourths 
of  a  century  was  not  the  result  of  any  defect  in  the  de- 
sign originated  by  its  noble  founders. 

Any  one  who  has  visited  the  royal  residence  of  the 
kings  of  France,  will  immediately  recognize  .the  resem- 
blance between  the  plans  of  Le  Notre  for  "Versailles,  and 
L'Enfant  for  Washington  City.  The  grand  avenues, 
de  Sceaux  and  St.  Cloud,  diverging  from  the  Cour  Royal, 
are  reproduced  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  avenues, 
radiating  from  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol.  Its  broad 
thoroughfares  are  among  the  principal  attractions  of 
Washington,  and  are  the  finest  possessed  by  any  city  in 
the  world.  The  avenues,  twenty-one  in  number,  radiate 
from  principal  centres  and  connect  different  parts  of  the 
city ;  the  original  number  was  thirteen,  named  for  the 


532      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

States  constituting  the  Union  at  the  time  the  Capital 
was  laid  out.  The  first  in  importance  is  Pennsylvania 
avenue ;  its  width  varies  from  one  hundred  and  sixty  to 
one  hundred  and  eighty  feet ;  its  length  is  four  and 
one-half  miles,  traversing  the  finest  business  portion 
of  the  city,  as  well  as  being  the  most  popular  and 
fashionable  thoroughfare  for  driving.  The  War  and 
Treasury  departments,  Washington  Circle,  and  the 
President's  House,  are  each  located  on  this  superb  street, 
which,  winding  up  and  around  Capitol  Hill,  finds  its 
terminus  on  the  banks  of  the  Anacostia. 

The  spaces  at  the  intersection  of  the  more  important 
avenues  form  what  are  called  Circles.  Washington 
Circle,  at  the  intersection  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Hampshire  avenues,  contains  the  equestrian  statue  of 
General  Washington,  which  was  ordered  by  Congress, 
and  cannon  donated  for  the  purpose,  in  1853.  The 
great  hero  is  represented  at  the  crisis  of  the  battle  of 
Princeton ;  the  horse  seems  shrinking  from  the  storm 
of  shot  and  shell  and  the  fiery  conflict  confronting  him; 
his  rider  exhibits  that  calm  equanimity  of  bearing  so 
eminently  his  characteristic.  This  statue  was  executed 
by  Clark  J\tills,  at  a  cost  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

At  the  western  base  of  Capitol  Hill  stands  the  naval 
monument,  termed  in  the  resolutions  of  Congress,  the 
"  Monument  of  Peace."  It  was  designed  by  Admiral 
Porter,  and  erected  by  subscriptions  started  by  hirn  among 
the  officers,  midshipmen  and  men  of  his  fleet,  immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Fort  Fisher.  The  height  of  this  monu- 
ment is  forty-four  feet;  it  is  built  of  Carrara  marble 
and  cost  $44,000.  The  surmounting  figures  repre- 
sent History  recording  the  woes  narrated  by  America, 
who  holds  a  tablet  in  her  hand  on  which  is  inscribed  : 


WASHINGTON.  533 

They  died  that  their  country  might  live.  This  monu- 
ment is  exceedingly  well  executed,  and  was  considered, 
in  Rome,  one  of  the  finest  ever  sent  to  America. 

Lafayette  Square,  comprising  seven  acres  lying  north 
of  the  President's  House,  is  beautifully  laid  out  with 
rustic  seats,  graveled  walks,  and  adorned  with  a  rare 
variety  of  trees  and  shrubbery.  In  the  centre  of  this 
square  stands  an  equestrian  statue  of  General  Andrew 
Jackson,  by  Clark  Mills,  originally  contracted  for  by  the 
friends  and  admirers  of  the  General  composing  the 
Jackson  Monument  Association,  who  subscribed  twelve 
thousand  dollars  towards  its  erection.  Congress  after- 
ward granted  them  the  brass  guns  and  mortars  captured 
by  General  Jackson  at  Pensacola.  In  1850  an  addi- 
tional donation  of  guns  was  made;  in  1852  another 
appropriation  sufficient  to  complete  the  work  was  granted, 
and  Congress  assumed  possession  of  the  monument.  The 
figure  of  the  horse  is  weighted  and  poised  without  the 
aid  of  rods,  as  in  the  celebrated  statues  of  Peter  the 
Great,  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  Charles  I,  at  London. 
This  was  the  first  application  of  the  principle,  and  re- 
sulted in  the  production  of  one  of  the  most  graceful  and 
astonishingly  beautiful  works  of  its  kind  in  existence. 
The  statue  is  of  colossal  size,  weighing  fifteen  tons,  and 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $50,000. 

Scott  Square,  lying  north  of  the  White  House,  con- 
tains a  bronze  statue  of  General  Winfield  Scott,  made 
of  cannon  captured  by  the  General  during  his  Mexican 
campaign,  and  donated  by  Congress  in  1867.  The 
work  was  executed  by  Brown,  of  New  York  ;  with  the 
pedestal,  it  is  twenty-nine  feet  high,  and  cost  $20,000. 
The  General  is  represented  in  full  uniform,  mounted  on 
his  war-horse,  surveying  the  field  of  battle. 


534      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  Circle  of  Victory,  at  the  intersection  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Vermont  avenues,  contains  a  bronze 
equestrian  statue  of  General  George  H.  Thomas,  of  the 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  The  statue  confronts  the 
South,  in  the  direction  of  the  General's  native  hills  of 
Virginia.  On  the  site  of  this  monument  a  salute  of 
eight  hundred  guns  was  fired  in  commemoration  of  the 
capture  of  Petersburg  and  Richmond  on  the  third  of 
April,  1865;  and,  a  few  days  later,  five  hundred  guns 
were  fired  from  the  same  spot  in  honor  of  General 
Lee's  surrender  and  the  fall  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

On  East  Capitol  street,  at  a  distance  of  about  one  mile 
from  the  Capitol,  is  a  square  comprising  six  and  a 
half  acres,  beautifully  laid  out  and  adorned  with  trees, 
shrubbery  and  walks.  In  this  enclosure  a  bronze  group 
called  Emancipation  has  been  erected ;  Abraham  Lin- 
coln is  represented  holding  in  his  right  hand  the  procla- 
mation which  gave  freedom  to  the  negroes  of  the  South. 
A  slave  kneels  at  his  feet,  witli  manacles  broken,  and  in 
the  act  of  rising  as  they  fall  from  his  hands.  This 
monument  is  said  to  have  been  built  exclusively  of  funds 
contributed  by  the  negroes  liberated  by  Lincoln's  pro- 
clamation of  January  first,  1863.  The  first  contribution 
of  five  hundred  dollars  was  made,  it  is  stated,  by  Char- 
lotte Scott,  formerly  a  slave  in  Virginia,  out  of  her  first 
earnings  as  a  freed-woman,  and  consecrated  by  her,  on 
hearing  of  President  Lincoln's  death,  to  aid  in  building 
a  monument  to  his  memory.  The  interesting  memorial 
was  unveiled  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  on  the  anni- 
versary of  his  assassination,  April  fourteenth,  1876,  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet,  foreign  ministers,  and  a  vast 
concourse  of  white  and  colored  citizens  being  present. 
Including  the  pedestal  of  Virginia  granite,  the  structure 


WASHINGTON.  535 

is  twenty-two  feet  iii  height,  and  cost  $20,000.  It  was 
in  this  square,  now  called  Lincoln  Square,  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  founder's  original  plan  of  embellishment,  a 
grand  Historic  Column  was  to  have  been  erected,  to 
serve  as  an  itinerary  column,  from  which  all  geographical 
distances  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States 
should  be  calculated. 

McPherson  Square,  on  Vermont  avenue,  contains  a 
bronze  equestrian  statue  of  General  James  Birdseye 
McPherson,  who  was  killed  near  Atlanta,  at  the  head 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  in  1 864.  He  is  repre- 
sented in  full  uniform,  with  field-glasses  in  hand,  sur- 
veying the  battle-ground.  A  vault  was  constructed 
beneath  the  statue,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  his 
body,  but  the  devoted  opposition  of  the  people  prevented 
its  removal  from  his  native  place. 

Farragut  and  Rawlins  squares  contain  respectively 
colossal,  but  not  equestrian  statues  of  Admiral  Farragut 
and  General  Rawlins. 

Mount  Vernon  Place,  at  the  intersection  of  New  York 
and  Massachusetts  avenues,  is  handsomely  laid  out  and 
planted  with  trees ;  in  the  centre,  occupying  an  elevated 
circular  space,  is  a  superb  fountain  of  bronze. 

There  are  numerous  smaller  spaces  at  the  intersection 
of  various  streets  and  avenues,  called  triangular  reserva- 
tions, all  of  which  are  highly  adorned  with  trees,  shrubs 
and  beautiful  small  fountains. 

The  Government  Propagating  Gardens  cover  an  area 
of  eighty  acres  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  south  of 
Washington's  Monument.  The  Botanical  Garden,  an 
instructive  place  of  public  resort,  lies  at  the  foot  of 
Capitol  Hill,  between  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  ave- 
nues. North  of  the  Conservatory  is  found  the  Bartholdi 


536      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

Fountain,  which  is  supplied  with  water  from  the  aque- 
duct, its  highest  stream  reaching  an  altitude  of  sixty-five 
feet.  This  fountain  is  the  work  of  Frederic  Augustus 
Bartholdi,  a  French  sculptor  and  pupil  of  SchefFer.  It 
will  be  remembered  by  all  who  visited  the  National 
Centennial  Exposition  at  Philadelphia,  where  it  was 
exhibited,  and  afterward  purchased  by  Congress  for  the 
inadequate  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars.  The  lower 
basin  is  twenty-six  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  its  centre 
rises  a  pedestal  bearing  aquatic  monsters  and  fishes 
spouting  water ;  three  female  caryatides,  eleven  feet  high, 
support  a  basin  thirteen  feet  in  diameter;  a  smaller  basin 
above  this  is  upheld  by  three  infant  Tritons,  the  whole 
being  surmounted  by  a  mural  crown.  Twelve  lamps, 
arranged  around  the  lower  basin,  and  lighted  by  elec- 
tricity, give  the  most  beautiful  effects  of  light  and  water. 
On  the  plaza  in  front  of  the  Treasury  Department,  is 
another  fine  fountain,  in  the  form  of  an  immense  granite 
urn,  the  tassa  of  which  measures  sixteen  feet  in  diameter. 

Immediately  in  front  of  Washington  city  the  Potomac 
expands  into  a  broad,  lake-like  body  of  water,  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  wide  and  at  least  eighteen  feet  deep.  The 
Anacostia  River,  at  its  mouth,  is  almost  the  same  width 
and  fully  as  deep.  Improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Potomac  and  the  construction  of  a  canal  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Ohio  River,  were  enterprises  that  began 
with  the  founding  of  the  National  Capital. 

In  1872,  Congress  appointed  a  board  of  officers  with 
a  view  to  the  improvement  of  the  channel  of  the  river 
and  water  fronts  of  Washington  and  Georgetown,  for 
commercial  purposes,  as  well  as  the  reclamation  of  the 
malaria-infected  marshes  opposite  the  city.  These  im- 
provements will  necessitate  the  rebuilding  of  Long 


WASHINGTON.  537 

Bridge  for  railroad  and  ordinary  traveling  purposes,  and 
reclaim  more  than  a  thousand  acres  of  valuable  laud.  It 
is  proposed  to  remove  the  National  Observatory  and  use 
the  earth  for  filling  up  the  marshes. 

The  Navy  Yard  Bridge  crosses  the  Anacostia  River, 
at  the  foot  of  Eleventh  street,  having  supplanted  the 
wooden  structure  built  in  1819,  over  which  Booth  made 
his  escape  after  the  assassination  of  Lincoln. 

The  various  buildings  occupied  by  the  Executive  and 
Legislative  branches  of  the  Government  are  worthy  of 
especial  notice.  The  Capitol  is  considered  one  of  the 
largest  and  finest  edifices  of  the  kind  in  the  world, 
and  in  point  of  durability  of  structure  and  costliness  of 
material,  it  certainly  has  no  superior.  It  stands  on  the 
west  side  of  Capitol  Hill,  very  near  the  centre  of  the 
city,  and  one  mile  distant  from  the  Potomac  River. 
The  main  or  central  building  is  three  hundred  and  fifty 
two  feet  in  length,  with  two  wings  or  extensions,  each 
having  a  front  of  one  hundred  and  forty-three  feet  on 
the  east  and  west,  and  a  depth  of  two  hundred  vand 
thirty-nine  feet  along  the  north  and  south  facades,  ex- 
clusive of  the  porticoes.  The  entire  length  of  this  great 
edifice  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet ;  its  greatest  depth 
three  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet;  the  ground  plan 
covering  three  and  a  half  acres. 

The  central  and  original  Capitol  building  is  of  free- 
stone, taken  from  the  Government  quarries  at  Aquia 
Creek,  forty  miles  below  the  city,  which  were  purchased 
for  that  purpose,  by  the  Commissioners,  in  1791.  This 
building  is  now  painted  white,  to  correspond  with  the 
extensions,  columns  and  porticoes  of  white  marble.  From 
the  centre  rises  the  great  dome,  designed  by  Walter,  to 
replace  the  original  one  removed  in  1856,  after  the  ad- 


538      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

ditions  to  the  building  had  rendered  it  out  of  propor- 
tion. The  apex  is  surmounted  by  a  lantern  fifty  feet 
high,  surrounded  by  a  peristyle,  and  crowned  by  the 
bronze  statue  of  Freedom  executed  by  Crawford  in 
1865.  The  height  from  the  base  line  to  the  crest  of  this 
statue  is  three  hundred  and  eight  feet,  making  the  dome 
of  the  Capitol  rank  fifth  in  height  with  the  greatest 
structures  of  the  kind  in  Europe. 

The  great  dome  is  visible  from  every  elevated  point 
in  the  District  for  miles  around,  and  from  its  windows, 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  is  extended  a  panorama  of 
wooded  hills,  beautiful  valleys,  with  the  majestic  cloud- 
capped  spurs  of  the  Blue  Ridge  raising  their  lofty  heads 
in  the  distance.  The  eastern  fa9ade  of  the  building 
looks  out  upon  the  extended  plain  of  Capitol  Hill,  with 
its  background  of  green  hills  reaching  far  beyond  the 
Anacostia.  On  the  north  a  broad  valley  extends,  until 
it  unites  with  the  encircling  hills  of  the  city ;  on  the 
south  the  majestic  Potomac  and  Anacostia  rivers  are 
seen  to  meet  and  mingle  their  placid  waters ;  while  from 
the  west  are  beheld  the  lawns  and  groves  of  the  Botanic 
Garden,  the  Mall,  and  handsome  grounds  of  the  Presi- 
dent's house,  with  Georgetown  Heights  and  the  glitter- 
ing domes  of  the  Observatory  in  the  distance. 

The  main  entrance,  from  the  grand  portico  into  the 
rotunda  is  filled  by  the  celebrated  bronze  door  modeled 
by  Rogers,  in  Rome,  1858,  and  cast  in  bronze  at  Munich, 
by  Miller,  in  1860.  On  the  panels  of  this  door  are 
portrayed,  in  alto  relievo,  the  principal  events  in  the  life 
of  Christopher  Columbus,  and  the  discovery  of  America. 
The  key  of  the  arch  is  adorned  with  a  fine  head  of  the 
great  navigator ;  in  the  four  corners  of  the  casing  are 
statuettes,  representing  Asia,  Africa,  Europe  and  America, 


WASHINGTON.  539 

with  a  border  in  relief  of  ancient  armor,  banners  and 
heraldic  designs  emblematic  of  navigation  and  conquest. 
Bordering  each  leaf  on  the  door  are  statuettes,  sixteen  in 
number,  of  his  patrons  and  contemporaries;  the  nine 
panels  bear  alto  relievo  illustrations  of  the  principal 
events  in  his  life ;  while  between  the  panels  are  a  series 
of  heads,  representing  the  historians  of  the  great  dis- 
coverer and  his  followers.  Altogether,  this  justly 
celebrated  bronze  door,  besides  being  wonderful  as  a  work 
of  art,  constitutes  in  itself  a  small  volume  of  the  most 
interesting  and  important  events  belonging  to  the  history 
of  our  country. 

The  rotunda  into  which  the  door  leads  is  embellished 
with  eight  large  historical  paintings,  by  different  artists. 
Four  of  these  were  executed  by  Trumbell,  who  served 
as  aid-de-camp  to  Washington  in  1775,  and  reproduced 
in  his  figures  the  likenessps  of  the  actors  in  the  scenes 
portrayed.  In  arranging  the  characters  for  the  "  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,"  in  which  the  Congress  of  1776 
is  represented  in  the  act  of  signing  that  great  instrument 
of  American  liberty,  the  artist  conferred  with  Jefferson, 
the  Author  of  the  Declaration,  and  John  Adams,  both 
of  whom  were  present  and  signers.  The  individual 
costumes,  the  furniture,  and  the  hall  itself,  are  represented 
with  scrupulous  fidelity,  all  of  which  tends  to  increase 
the  interest  inspired  by  this  painting. 

The  National  Library  was  founded  by  act  of  Congress 
in  1800,  and  the  following  year,  after  the  report  of  John 
Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  had  been  submitted,  setting  forth 
the  necessity  for  further  legislation  on  the  subject,  a 
second  act  was  passed,  which  placed  it  on  a  permanent 
basis.  The  number  of  volumes  first  contained  in  the 
library  was  three  thousand,  but  appropriations  were 


540      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

annually  made  by  Congress  to  increase  the  number.  In 
1814  the  Capitol  was  burned  by  the  British,  and  the 
library  destroyed  ;  a  few  months  later,  Thomas  Jefferson 
offered  the  Government  his  private  collection  of  6,700 
volumes,  among  which  were  many  rare  and  valuable 
works  obtained  in  Europe,  and  these  were  purchased  for 
the  sum  of  $23,950.  In  1866  the  Smithsonian  Library, 
containing  forty  thousand  volumes,  was  added,  and  a 
year  later,  the  Peter  Force  collection  was  purchased  by 
Congress,  for  $100,000;  constant  additions  have  in- 
creased the  number,  until  the  library  now  contains  nearly 
four  hundred  thousand  bound  volumes,  and  one  hundred 
thousand  pamphlets.  It  is  enriched  also  by  journals, 
manuscripts,  and  maps  relating  to  the  history  and  topo- 
graphy of  the  country ;  in  respect  to  the  latter,  being 
only  approached  by  the  library  in  the  British  Museum. 
The  Library  halls  occupy  the  principal  floor  of  the  entire 
west  projection  of  the  Capitol. 

In  the  Vice  President's  Room  hangs  the  original  paint- 
ing of  Washington,  taken  from  life  by  Rembrandt  Peale, 
and  purchased  by  the  Government  in  1832,  for  the  sum 
of  two  thousand  dollars. 

The  Senate  Reception  Room  is  a  beautiful  and  brilliant 
apartment,  about  sixty  feet  in  length,  with  its  vaulted 
and  arched  ceiling,  divided  into  four  sections,  adorned 
with  allegorical  frescoes  of  Prudence,  Justice,  Temperance 
and  Strength,  executed  by  Brumidi,  in  1856.  The  ceil- 
ing is  heavily  gilded  throughout ;  the  walls  finished  in 
stucco  and  gilt,  with  a  base  of  Scagliola,  imitating  the 
marbles  of  Potomac  and  Tennessee.  A  finely  executed 
fresco,  in  oil,  by  Brumidi,  adorns  the  south  wall,  repre- 
senting Washington  in  consultation  with  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton,  his  Secretaries  of  State  and  Treasury. 


WASHINGTON.  541 

The  Presidents  Room  is  an  equally  magnificent  apart- 
ment, with  groined  arches  embellished  with  numerous 
allegorical  figures  in  fresco,  the  decoration,  by  Brumidi, 
being,  in  general  design,  the  same  as  in  the  private  audi- 
ence chamber  of  the  Vatican  at  Rome.  The  work 
throughout  is  very  fine,  being  richly  decorated  with 
arabesques  on  a  groundwork  of  gilt;  the  luxurious  furni- 
ture of  the  apartment  is  entirely  in  keeping  with  this 
high  order  of  artistic  finish. 

The  old  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  a 
magnificent  apartment,  designed  and  planned  after  the 
theatre  at  Athens,  with  fourteen  Corinthian  columns  of 
variegated  marble,  forming  a  circular  colonnade  on  the 
north.  The  bases  of  these  columns  are  of  freestone,  the 
capitals  of  Carrara  marble,  designed  and  executed  in  Italy, 
after  those  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Stator,  at  Rome ; 
the  paneled  dome  overhead  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Pan- 
theon. This  venerable  apartment  was  occupied  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  for  thirty-two  years ;  its  at- 
mosphere must,  in  consequence,  ever  continue  redolent 
with  historic  associations.  On  its  walls,  in  the  old  days, 
hung  the  full-length  portraits  of  Washington  and 
Lafayette,  presented  by  the  latter  on  his  last  visit  to 
this  country ;  and  the  exact  spot  is  pointed  out  where 
stood  the  desk  of  the  venerable  Ex-President,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  when  that  aged  patriot  and  senator 
was  stricken  by  death.  When,  on  the  completion  of  the 
new,  the  old  Hall  was  abandoned,  in  1857,  it  was  set 
apart,  by  Congress,  as  a  National  Statuary  Gallery,  and 
the  President  authorized  to  invite  the  different  States 
to  contribute  statues,  in  bronze  or  marble,  of  such  among 
their  distinguished  citizens  as  they  might  especially  de- 
sire to  honor,  the  number  being  limited  to  two  from 


542     PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

each  State.  These  contributions  have  been  coming  in 
slowly  from  year  to  year,  besides  which,  many  valuable 
statues  and  paintings  have  been  purchased  and  added, 
by  the  Government. 

The  new  Hall  of  Representatives  is  said  to  be  the 
finest  in  the  world ;  its  length  being  one  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  feet,  width  ninety-three,  and  height  thirty-six 
feet,  while  the  galleries  will  seat  twenty-five  hundred 
persons.  The  ceiling  is  of  cast-iron,  with  panels  gilded 
and  filled  with  stained-glass  centres,  on  which  are  rep- 
resented the  coat-of-arms  of  each  of  the  different  States. 
The  walls  are  adorned  with  valuable  historical  paintings 
and  frescoes. 

The  Supreme  Court  Room,  formerly  the  old  United 
States  Senate  Chamber,  is  a  semicircular  apartment, 
seventy-five  feet  in  diameter;  its  height  and  greatest 
width  being  forty-five  feet.  The  ceiling  is  formed  by  a 
flattened  dome,  ornamented  with  square  caissons  in  stucco, 
with  apertures  for  the  admission  of  light.  Supporting  a 
gallery  back  of  the  Judges'  seats  extends  a  row  of  Ionic 
columns  of  Potomac  marble,  with  capitals  of  white  Italian 
marble,  modeled  after  those  in  the  Temple  of  Minerva. 
Along  the  western  wall  are  marble  brackets,  each  sup- 
porting the  bust  of  a  deceased  Chief  Justice. 

When  occupied  by  the  Senate,  the  Hall  contained 
desks  for  sixty-four  Senators.  It  was  in  this  chamber 
that  the  Nation's  purest  and  most  profound  statesmen 
assembled,  and  the  great  "  Immortal  Trio,"  Clay,  Web- 
ster and  Calhoun,  made  those  wonderful  forensic  efforts 
which  gave  their  names  forever  to  fame  and  the  admi- 
ration of  posterity. 

The  New  Senate  Chamber,  first  occupied  in  1859,  is  a 
magnificent  apartment,  belonging  to  the  new  extension 


WASHINGTON.  543 

of  the  Capitol,  one  hundred  and  thirteen  feet  in  length 
by  eighty  feet  in  width,  and  thirty-six  feet  high.  The 
Senators'  desks  are  constructed  of  mahogany,  and 
arranged  in  concentric  semicircles  around  the  apart- 
ment. The  galleries  rise  and  recede  in  tiers  to  the 
corridors  of  the  second  floor,  and  are  capable  of  seating 
twelve  thousand  people. 

Immense  iron  girders  and  transverse  pieces  compose 
the  ceiling,  forming  deep  panels,  each  glazed  with  a 
symbolic  centre  piece  ;  the  walls  are  richly  painted,  the 
doors  elaborately  finished  with  bronze  ornaments.  From 
the  lobby  we  pass  into  the  Senate  Retiring  Room,  hand- 
somely furnished,  and  said  to  be  the  finest  apartment  of 
the  kind  in  the  world.  The  ceiling  is  composed  of 
massive  blocks  of  polished  white  marble,  which  form 
deep  panels,  resting  upon  four  Corinthian  columns,  also 
of  white  Italian  marble.  Highly  polished  Tennessee 
marble  lines  the  entire  walls,  in  the  panels  of  which  are 
placed  immense  plate  glass  mirrors,  enhancing  the 
brilliancy  and  already  striking  effect  of  the  whole. 

The  limits  of  this  chapter  will  not  admit  of  further 
description  of  the  numerous  apartments  gorgeously 
furnished ;  the  palatial  corridors  beautifully  designed ; 
magnificent  vestibules  with  fluted  columns  of  marble ; 
richly  gilt  paneled  ceilings  and  tinted  walls ;  grand 
stairways  of  marble  and  bronze,  with  the  statues,  busts, 
paintings  and  bronzes,  which  enrich  the  Capitol,  many 
of  them  being  masterpieces  of  art,  and  none  devoid  of 
merit.  A  detailed  account  of  all  would  fill  a  small 
volume;  we  are  compelled,  therefore,  to  reluctantly  leave 
the  subject,  and  proceed  to  the  description  of  the  Public 
Buildings. 

The  President's  House  is  situated  in  the  western  part 


544      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  the  city,  distant  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  Capitol. 
A  premium  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  awarded  James 
Hoban,  architect,  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  plan,  and 
the  corner  stone  laid,  with  Masonic  honors,  October 
thirteenth,  1792.  John  Adams  was  the  first  presidential 
occupant;  he  took  possession  during  the  month  of  Novem- 
ber, 1800,  after  the  Government  offices  had  been  removed 
to  Washington.  This  building  was  burned  by  the  British 
in  1814;  the  following  year  Congress  authorized  its 
restoration,  committing  the  work  to  the  original  archi- 
tect, Hoban,  by  whom  it  was  completed  in  1826,  in  all 
its  details.  It  is  built  of  freestone,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  feet  in  length,  eighty -six  in  width,  with  grand 
porticoes  on  the  north  and  south  fronts,  supported  by 
Ionic  columns.  The  main  entrance  is  on  the  north,  by 
a  spacious  vestibule  handsomely  frescoed.  The  Blue 
Room,  in  which  the  President  receives,  on  both  public 
and  private  occasions,  is  an  oval-shaped  apartment, 
finished  in  blue  and  gilt,  with  draperies  and  furniture 
of  blue  damask.  Communicating  with  this  is  a  second 
parlor  called  the  Green  Room,  from  the  prevailing  color 
of  the  furniture  and  hangings.  In  this  apartment  are 
found  the  portraits  of  Presidents  Madison,  Monroe, 
Harrison  and  Taylor.  The  East  Room,  which  closes  the 
suite,  is  a  truly  royal  apartment,  magnificently  decorated 
in  a  style  purely  Grecian,  the  ceiling  frescoed  in  oil, 
mantles  of  exquisite  wood  carving,  immense  mirrors  in 
magnificent  frames,  with  the  richest  furniture,  and  win- 
dow drapery  of  the  costliest  lace  and  damask.  A  full 
length  portrait  of  Washington  adorns  this  apartment, 
purchased  by  Congress  in  1803.  When  the  Capitol  was 
burned,  in  1814,  this  painting  was  rescued  from  destruc- 
tion by  Mrs.  Madison,  who  had  it  removed  from  the 


WASHINGTON.  545 

frame  and  carried  to  a  place  of  safety.  A  portrait  of 
Martha,  the  wife  of  "Washington,  also  hangs  in  this 
room,  painted  by  Andrews  in  1878. 

The  numerous  other  apartments  in  the  President's 
House  exhibit  the  same  lavish  style  of  adorning,  the 
furniture  being  constantly  changed  and  renewed ;  but 
the  vandal  spirit  of  change  has  not,  as  yet,  dared  to  lay 
its  sacrilegious  hand  upon  or  to  alter  the  construction  of 
the  house,  which  remains  the  same  as  when,  almost  a 
century  ago,  it  was  first  occupied  by  the  elder  President 
Adams.  It  is  not  difficult,  therefore,  to  evoke  the  spirit 
of  the  past  while  standing  among  these  ancient  apart- 
ments, halls  and  corridors,  and  behold  in  fancy  the  long 
line  of  true  statesmen,  incorruptible  patriots  and  noble 
men,  who  have  successively  lived  and  moved  among 
them,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic.  And  it  is  to 
be  devoutly  hoped  that  the  vanity  and  caprice  of  the 
rulers  who,  in  these  later  years,  are  being  cast  into  high 
places,  will  not  prevail  in  the  effort  to  have  this  vener- 
able home  of  the  Presidents,  hallowed  by  the  memories 
of  the  nation's  past,  cast  aside,  and  another  building, 
modern  and  meaningless,  substituted  in  its  stead. 

Immediately  west  of  the  President's  House  stands 
the  Department  of  State,  War  and  Navy,  a  vast  and 
imposing  structure  in  the  Doric  style,  combining  the 
massive  proportions  of  the  ancient  with  the  elegance 
of  modern  architecture.  The  Diplomatic  Reception 
Room  is  a  magnificent  apartment,  decorated  and  fur- 
nished in  the  most  sumptuous  manner,  with  ebonized 
woods  and  gold  brocade,  after  the  Germanized  Egyptian 
style.  The  portraits  of  Daniel  Webster  and  Lord  Ash- 
burton,  by  Healy  (purchased  by  Congress  from  the 
widow  of  Fletcher  Webster,  1879),  adorn  the  walls, 


35 


546      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  over  the  mantels  are  busts,  in  bronze,  of  Washing- 
ton and  Lafayette.  In  the  Diplomatic  Ante-room  is 
seen  a  full-length  portrait  of  the  Bey  of  Tunis,  sent  by 
special  envoy  in  1865,  with  a  letter  of  condolence  to  the 
Government,  on  the  death  of  Lincoln.  Above  this 
apartment  is  the  library,  containing  a  valuable  collection 
of  works  on  diplomacy,  and  many  objects  of  interest, 
including  the  original  draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, with  the  desk  on  which  it  was  written,  pre- 
sented to  the  Government  by  the  heirs  of  James 
Coolidge,  of  Massachusetts,  to  whom  it  was  presented 
by  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  original  document,  signed, 
is  also  here,  together  with  the  sword  of  Washington, 
purchased  by  Congress  in  1880,  and  his  commission  as 
Commander-in-Chief ;  the  staff  of  Franklin;  original 
drafts  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  the  Federal 
Constitution,  and  other  valuable  and  interesting  historic 
documents,  from  the  foundation  of  the  Government. 
The  entire  building  contains  one  hundred  and  fifty 
apartments,  and  cost  five  million  dollars. 

The  Treasury  Department  is  situated  east  of  the 
President's  House;  it  presents  a  most  classic  appearance, 
with  its  three  stories  in  the  pure  Ionic  style  of  archi- 
tecture, upon  a  basement  of  rustic  work,  surmounted 
by  an  attic  and  balustrade.  It  has  four  fronts  and 
principal  entrances ;  the  western  front,  consisting  of 
a  colonnade,  after  the  style  of  the  temple  of  Minerva, 
at  Athens,  is  three  hundred  and  thirty-six  feet  long, 
with  thiirty  Ionic  columns,  and  recessed  porticoes  on 
either  end.  This  building  contains  the  vaults  in 
which  the  current  funds  and  National  Bank  bonds  of 
the  Government  are  kept.  The  Secretary's  office  is 
a  beautiful  apartment,  on  the  second  floor.  The  walls 


WASHINGTON.  547 

being  formed  of  various  kinds  of  highly  polished  mar- 
ble. This  building  contains  two  hundred  apartments, 
exclusive  of  the  basement  and  attic,  and  cost  six  mil- 
lion dollars. 

The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  a  branch  of 
the  Treasury  Department,  occupies  a  separate  building, 
recently  erected,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  a  handsome  structure,  of  pressed  brick,  in 
the  Romanesque  style,  is  entirely  fireproof,  and  situated 
between  the  Agricultural  Department  and  the  Washing- 
ton Monument. 

The  Patent  Office,  an  immense  building  covering  two 
squares,  or  two  and  three-fourths  acres  of  ground  (which 
in  the  original  plan  of  the  city  had  been  set  apart  for 
the  erection  of  a  National  Mausoleum,  or  church),  is 
in  the  Doric  style  of  architecture,  after  the  Parthenon 
at  Athens,  and  impresses  all  who  behold  it  with  the 
grandeur  of  its  proportions.  The  Museum  of  Models, 
a  collection  of  inventions,  both  native  and  foreign, 
patented  by  the  Government,  occupies  the  four  immense 
halls  on  the  second  floor,  and  contains  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  models,  which  have 
accumulated  since  the  fire  of  1836.  In  December,  of 
that  year,  the  old  building  was  destroyed,  containing 
four  thousand  models,  the  accumulation  of  half  a  cen- 
tury. But  for  this  calamity,  the  progress  of  mechanical 
arts  in  the  United  States  could  be  traced  back  to  the 
foundation  of  the  Government.  The  south  Hall  of  the 
Museum  is  a  magnificent  apartment,  two  hundred  and 
forty-two  feet  long,  sixty-three  feet  wide,  and  thirty 
feet  high,  decorated  in  the  Pompeiian  style,  the  entire 
structure  of  the  room  being  in  solid  masonry.  Among 
the  historical  relics  contained  here,  are  the  uniform 


.548      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

of  Washington,  worn  at  the  time  he  resigned  his 
commission,  and  his  sword,  secretary,  compass,  and 
sleeping  tent,  with  camp  utensils  for  cooking,  etc.  The 
number  and  variety  of  models  contained  in  these 
four  large  halls  are  almost  bewildering,  and  afford 
material  for  hours  of  study.  The  cost  of  this  immense 
structure  was  two  million,  seven  hundred  thousand,  but 
the  entire  sum  has  been  principally  liquidated  by  the 
surplus  funds  received,  which  annually  amount  to  at 
least  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  General  Post  Office  building  is  immediately  op- 
posite the  Patent  Office ;  it  is  a  most  imposing  edifice, 
constructed  of  white  marble,  from  the  quarries  of  New 
York,  and  was  built — the  portion  fronting  on  E  street — 
in  1839.  The  northern  half  of  the  square  was  afterward 
purchased  by  the  Government,  and  the  extension  begun 
in  1855;  the  building,  as  now  completed,  being  three 
hundred  feet  in  length,  by  two  hundred  and  four  in 
depth,  with  a  large  courtyard  in  the  centre,  entered  on 
the  west  front  by  a  carriage  way,  where  the  mails  are 
received  and  sent  out.  Above  the  basement,  on  every 
side  of  this  noble  structure,  arise  monolithic  columns 
and  pilasters,  surmounted  by  handsomely  wrought 
capitals,  upon  which  rests  a  paneled  cornice.  The  main 
entrance  is  adorned  with  Doric  columns,  and  the  ceiling, 
walls  and  floor  finished  with  white  marble.  In  the 
office  of.  the  Postmaster-General  is  a  fine  collection  of 
photographs  and  crayons  of  those  who  have  filled  this 
position  since  the  appointment  of  Samuel  Osgood,  by 
Washington,  in  1789.  The  cost  of  this  building  was 
one  million  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  Agricultural  Building  is  a  large  and  handsome 
structure,  built  of  pressed  brick,  in  the  renaissance 


WASHINGTON.  549 

style  of  architecture,  with  trimmings  of  brown  stone. 
Immediately  in  front  of  the  house  is  a  flower  garden, 
beautifully  laid  out,  and  planted  with  an  almost  count- 
less variety  of  flowers ;  the  remaining  grounds  adjacent 
to  the  building  have  been  laid  out  as  an  arboreture,  with 
walks  and  drives  winding  through  forests  of  trees  and 
shrubs,  all  of  which  have  been  planted  according  to  the 
strictest  botanical  rules.  The  experimental  grounds, 
occupying  ten  acres  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  contain 
artificial  lakes,  rivers  and  swamps,  for  the  cultivation  of 
water  and  marsh  plants.  The  building  is  handsomely 
finished  and  the  various  apartments  and  offices  elegantly 
furnished,  including  a  handsome  library,  thoroughly 
equipped  laboratory,  and  an  Agricultural  Museum, 
which  occupies  the  main  building,  and  is  replete  with 
objects  of  interest  and  beauty  too  numerous  to  admit  of 
description.  The  Plant  Houses  are  immense  conserva- 
tories, in  which  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  every  clime 
and  country  may  be  found  growing.  The  main  structure 
is  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  by  thirty  wide, 
with  a  projecting  wing  giving  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
additional.  On  the  north  bank  of  the  Potomac  is  the 
Naval  Observatory,  one  of  the  principal  astronomical 
establishments  in  the  world.  The  Observatory  was 
founded  in  1842,  the  location  being  selected  by  Presi- 
dent Tyler.  The  site  had  been  called  "  University 
Square,"  from  the  fact  that  it  had  been  the  cherished 
intention  of  Washington,  from  the  foundation  of  the 
city,  to  urge  the  erection  upon  this  spot  of  a  National 
University.  The  central  building  of  the  Observatory 
was  completed  in  1844 — a  two-story  building,  with 
wings,  and  surmounted  by  a  dome.  The  great  telescope, 
purchased  in  1873,  cost  forty-seven  thousand  dollars, 


550      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  is  the  most  powerful  instrument  in  the  world,  the 
refracting  glass  being  twenty-six  inches;  the  focal 
length  thirty-two  and  a  half  feet.  The  library  contains 
six  thousand  volumes,  a  number  of  them  very  rare, 
dating  back  to  1482. 

The  Army  Medical  Museum  was  formerly  Ford's 
Theatre,  in  which  President  Lincoln  was  assassinated  on 
the  fourteenth  of  April,  1865.  The  building  was  pur- 
chased a  year  later,  by  Congress,  remodeled  and  converted 
to  its  present  use.  No  trace  has  been  left  to  indicate  the 
exact  location  of  the  murder.  The  Chemical  Laboratory, 
on  the  first  floor,  was  the  restaurant  in  which  Booth  took 
his  last  drink ;  among  the  relics  and  curiosities  is  a  por- 
tion of  the  vertebra?  taken  from  the  neck  of  the  assassin. 
The  first  floor  is  occupied  by  the  record  and  pension 
division  of  the  Surgeon  General's  office,  and  upon  the 
registers  are  inscribed  the  names  of1  three  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  dead.  The  Museum  is  on  the  third  floor, 
and  contains  about  sixteen  thousand  medical,  surgical, 
and  anatomical  specimens. 

The  Government  Printing  Office  is  a  large  four-story 
building,  in  which  the  printing  of  the  two  Houses  of 
Congress  and  other  Departments  is  done.  In  1794  an 
appropriation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  was  made,  and 
sufficed,  for  u  firewood,  stationery  and  printing ;  the 
amount  required  at  the  present  time  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  this  department  is  two  million  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  per  annum,  showing  the  rapid  advance  of  the 
country,  in  extent,  population,  and  the  prodigality  of  its 
representatives  as  well. 

The  United  States  Barracks,  formerly  the  Arsenal,  is 
situated  at  the  extreme  southern  point  of  the  city.  A 
Government  Penitentiary  was  erected  on  the  grounds  in 


WASHINGTON.  551 

1826 ;  in  one  of  the  lower  cells  was  buried  the  body  of 
Booth,  and  afterward  those  of  the  other  conspirators.  The 
Penitentiary  was  taken  down  in  1869,  at  which  time  the 
family  of  Booth  was  permitted  to  remove  his  body  to 
Baltimore,  where  it  was  interred  in  the  family  burial 
lot  at  Druid  Hill,  the  grave  remaining  unmarked.  In 
front  of  the  old  buildings,  the  grounds,  since  the  war, 
have  been  beautifully  laid  out,  and  contain  a  number  of 
cannon  captured  by  the  Government  forces  in  different 
conflicts.  There  is  a  brass  gun  with  a  ball  shot  into  its 
muzzle  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  two  captured 
Blakely  guns,  one  of  which  bears  the  inscription  :  "  Pre- 
sented to  the  Sovereign  State  of  South  Carolina,  by  one 
of  her  citizens  residing  abroad,  in  commemoration  of 
the  twentieth  of  December,  1860."  There  are  also 
British,  French,  and  Mexican  caunon,  captured  from 
those  nations,  some  of  them  dated  as  far  back  as  1756. 
.  On  the  Anacostia,  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the 
Capitol,  is  the  Navy  Yard,  formally  established  by  act 
of  Congress  in  1804,  and  in  those  early  days  standing 
unrivaled,  as  it  sent  out  such  famous  vessels  as  the 
Wasp,  Argus,  and  Viper ;  and  frigates,  carrying  44  guns 
each,  were  built  in  its  shops.  But  the  gradual  filling  up 
of  the  channel  in  which  ships  of  the  line  formerly 
anchored,  and  the  increased  facilities  of  other  later  estab- 
lished stations,  have  deprived  the  old  yard  of  its  import- 
ance as  a  naval  constructing  port,  although  it  is  still 
one  of  the  most  important  for  the  manufacture  of  sup- 
plies. The  Marine  Barracks,  organized  in  1798,  are 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  Navy  Yard  gate;  the 
building  is  seven  hundred  feet  in  length,  with  accom- 
modations for  two  hundred  men.  The  Barracks  were 
burned  by  the  British  in  1814,  but  were  at  once  rebuilt. 


552      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

The  Smithsonian  Institute,  by  name,  is  generally 
familiar,  while  comparatively  few  are  acquainted  with 
its  origin,  the  design  of  its  founder,  his  antecedents 
or  history,  all  of  which  are  peculiarly  interesting, 
and  deserving  of  a  more  extended  notice  than  our 
sketch  will  permit.  James  Smithson  was  an  English- 
man, the  son  of  the  first  Duke  of  Northumberland,  and 
a  grand  nephew,  on  his  mother's  side,  of  Charles,  the 
proud  Duke  of  Somerset.  Whether  or  not  any  secret 
romance  was  connected  with  his  life,  we  are  not  informed; 
all  that  is  known  is,  that  he  devoted  himself  to  litera- 
ture and  science,  was  never  married,  and  died  at  Genoa, 
Italy,  in  1828,  bequeathing  his  fortune  to  his  nephew, 
Henry  James  Hungerford,  during  life ;  at  his  death  to 
become  the  property  of  the  United  States ;  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  will,  "  To  found,  at  Washington,  under 
the  name  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  an  establishment 
for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men." 
The  Government  accepted  the  bequest,  which  was  at  its 
disposal  as  early  as  1836,  and  the  original  fund,  of  up- 
wards of  five  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  was 
deposited  in  the  Treasury.  A  little  more  than  ten  years 
later  the  Smithsonian  Institute  was  organized,  a  board 
of  Regents  appointed,  and  the  corner-stone  laid,  with 
masonic  ceremonies,  May  the  first,  1847.  The  building 
was  completed  in  1856,  the  accrued  interest  being  mere 
than  sufficient  to  cover  all  the  expenses  of  its  erection, 
and  leaving  a  permanent  fund  of  six  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  in  the  Treasury  for  its  future  main- 
tenance. In  less  than  a  year  after  the  close  of  the  war 
the  main  building  was  partially  destroyed  by  fire,  to- 
gether with  the  papers  and  reports  of  the  Institute,  and 
the  personal  effects  of  its  founder.  It  was  immediately 


WASHINGTON'.  553 

restored,  however ;  but  the  Library,  comprising  a  large 
collection  of  valuable  scientific  works,  was  removed  to 
the  Capitol.  It  would  seem  that  this  immense  building, 
so  generously  endowed,  could,  and  should,  be  made  to 
advance  "  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  men/'  in  a  more  direct  and  individual  manner, 
by  being  devoted  to  educational  purposes.  But  further 
than  its  use  in  conducting  exchanges  between  the  Gov- 
ernment and  scientific  bodies  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
the  care  of  the  National  Museum,  the  Smithsonian  In- 
stitute has  contributed  nothing  toward  "  the  advance- 
ment of  knowledge  among  men,"  and  those,  generally,  of 
the  country  whom  it  was  especially  intended  to  benefit. 

The  National  Museum,  completed  in  1879,  is  situated 
a  very  short  distance  east  of  the  Institute,  and  covers 
nearly  two  and  a  half  acres  of  ground.  It  is  a  handsome 
structure,  of  the  modernized  Romanesque  style  of  archi- 
tecture ;  having  four  entrances  and  eight  lofty  towers ; 
the  principal  entrance  being  approached  by  granite  steps, 
thirty-seven  feet  wide,  to  a' richly  tiled  platform.  Above 
the  inscription  plate  on  the  globe  of  the  nave,  is  an 
allegorical  group  representing  Columbia  as  the  patroness 
of  Science  and  Industry.  The  whole  is  surmounted  by 
a  dome ;  the  windows  filled  with  double  glass  imported 
from  Belgium ;  in  fine,  the  entire  building  is  externally 
and  internally  complete,  being  finished  and  furnished  in 
the  most  costly  and  elegant  manner.  The  large  collec- 
tions of  the  Museum  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  are 
to  be  divided ;  objects  of  purely  natural  history  being 
alone  kept  in  the  Institute,  the  second  floor  of  which 
will  be  devoted  to  archaeology,  including  the  antiquities 
of  the  "  Stone  Age." 

South  of  the  President's  House,  and  but  a  short  dis- 


554      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

tance  from  the  stone  which  marks  the  centre  of  the 
District  stands  the  National  Monument  to  the  Father 
of  his  Country,  designed  by  Mills.  It  was  completed 
on  Saturday,  December  sixth,  1884,  by  the  setting  of  its 
marble  cap-stone.  The  idea  of  this  National  Monument 
took  definite  shape  in  1833,  when  the  Washington 
National  Monument  Association  was  organized,  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
country.  The  design  was  to  build  it  by  means  of  popu- 
lar subscriptions,  of  individual  sums,  not  to  exceed  one 
dollar  each.  In  1847  the  collections  amounted  to 
$87,000,  and  with  this  sum  it  was  determined  to  begin 
the  work.  On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1848  the  corner 
stone  of  the  monument  was  laid  ;  in  1854,  the  funds  of 
the  National  Monument  Association  were  exhausted. 
The  structure  had  then  reached  a  height  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  feet,  and  during  the  succeeding  twenty- 
four  years  only  four  feet  were  added  to  its  altitude. 
August  twenty-second,  1876,  Congress  passed  an  Act, 
creating  a  commission  for  its  completion,  and  made  the 
necessary  appropriation,  which  was  to  be  continued 
annually.  Before  resuming  work  on  the  monument,  it 
was  deemed  best  to  strengthen  the  foundation  by  placing 
under  the  shaft  an  additional  mass  of  concrete,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  feet,  three  inches  beyond  the  old 
foundation.  Th3  weight  of  the  mass  then  worked  under 
was  32,176  tons.  The  total  pressure  on  the  foundation 
as  it  now  stands  is  80,378  tons. 

The  monument  is  a  marble  obelisk,  the  marble  having 
been  brought  from  the  quarries  of  the  Beaver  Dam 
Marble  Company,  Baltimore  County,  Maryland.  The 
shaft,  from  the  floor,  is  555  feet,  4  inches  high,  being 
thirty  feet,  five  inches  higher  than  the  spires  of  the  great 


WASHINGTON.  555 

cathedral  of  Cologne.  The  present  foundation  is  thirty- 
six  feet,  eight  inches  deep,  making  an  aggregate  height, 
from  the  bed  of  the  foundation,  of  592  feet,  the  loftiest 
work  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  The  walls  of  the 
obelisk,  at  its  base,  are  over  fifteen  feet  thick,  and  at 
the  500  feet  mark,  where  the  pyramidal  top  begins, 
eighteen  inches  thick.  The  total  cost  of  the  monument 
has  been  $1,130,000.  Within  the  obelisk  is  an  elevator 
and  a  stairway.  On  the  latter  there  are  nine  hundred 
steps,  and  about  twenty  minutes  are  required  to  make 
the  descent. 

The  Corcoran  Art  Gallery  is  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  valued  institutions  belonging  to  the 
National  Capitol,  and  the  last  that  our  limits  will  per- 
mit being  described  at  length.  The  building  stands  on 
the  corner  of  Pennsylvania  avenue  and  Seventeenth 
street,  and  is  constructed  of  brick,  in  the  Renaissance 
style  of  architecture,  finished  with  freestone  ornaments 
and  a  variety  of  beautiful  carving.  On  the  avenue 
front  are  four  statues,  in  Carrara  marble,  executed  by 
Ezekiel,  in  Rome,  of  Phidias,  Raphael,  Michael  Angela, 
and  Albert  Durer,  representing  respectively,  sculpture, 
painting,  architecture  and  engraving.  In  the  vestibules 
and  corridors  are  casts-  of  ancient  bos  reliefs,  with  nu- 
merous antique  busts  and  statues  in  marble.  The  Hall 
of  Bronzes  contains  a  very  large  and  interesting  collec- 
tion of  bronzes,  armor,  ceramic  ware,  etc.  The  Hall  of 
Antique  Sculpture,  almost  one  hundred  feet  in  length, 
contains  casts  of  the  most  celebrated  specimens  of  an- 
cient sculpture.  The  Main  Picture  Gallery  is  also 
nearly  one  hundred  feet  long  and  fifty  feet  wide,  with  a 
collection  of  paintings  ranking  among  the  first  of  this 


556      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

country,  and  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen  in  num- 
ber. The  Octagon  Chamber  contains  the  original  Greek 
Slave,  by  Powers.  In  the  East  Gallery  is  displayed  a 
valuable  collection  of  portraits  of  distinguished  Ameri- 
cans, painted  by  the  best  native  artists ;  in  the  West 
Gallery,  is  a  large  number  of  paintings,  historical,  land- 
scape and  other  subjects. 

The  Corcoran  Art  Gallery  was  presented  to  the  city 
and  country  by  W.  W.  Corcoran,  Esq.,  in  1869.  This 
magnificent  gift,  including  the  donor's  private  collection 
of  paintings  and  statuary,  cost  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  to  which  he  added  an  endowment 
fund  of  nine  hundred  thousand  dollars  more.  Mr. 
Corcoran  has  also  erected  and  elegantly  furnished,  a  large 
and  beautiful  building,  called  the  Louise  Home,  at  a  cost 
of  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  with  an  endowment  fund 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  Home, 
the  only  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  entire  country,  is 
an  asylum  for  ladies  of  education  and  refinement 
who  have  been  reduced  in  fortune.  The  house  is 
furnished  in  a  style  of  subdued  elegance,  with  every 
luxury  and  convenience  to  be  found  in  the  best 
appointed  private  residence ;  while  the  ladies  are  waited 
upon  and  treated  with  the  same  attention  and  respect  as 
if  they  were  each  paying  an  extravagant  rate  of  board. 
There  are  ample  accommodations  for  fifty-five  ladies, 
who  must  have  reached  the  age  of  fifty-years,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  and  who  make  their  application  for  admission 
in  writing.  There  is  no  charge  for  admission,  nor  ex- 
pense of  any  kind,  nor  limit  to  the  time  of  remaining  at 
the  Louise  Home.  This  beautiful  institution,  in  which 
charity  is  bestowed  in  so  refined  and  delicate,  yet  mag- 
nificent a  manner,  has  been  erected  and  endowed  by  the 


WASHINGTON.  557 

Founder  in  memoriam  of  a  beloved  wife  and  only  daugh- 
ter and  child.  It  is  but  due  to  this  great  philanthro- 
pist, to  mention  here,  that  in  addition  to  his  gifts  named 
above,  the  National  Medical  College,  of  Columbian  Univer- 
tsity,  was  his  gift,  in  1864,  and  cost  forty  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  original  grounds  of  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  com- 
prising ten  acres,  were  also  donated  by  him,  together  with 
an  endowment  fund  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
dollars  ;  the  grounds  were  incorporated  by  Congress  in 
1840.  It  were  fortunate  for  mankind  if  the  number  of 
such  benefactors  were  greater,  and  the  wisdom  displayed 
by  Mr.  Corcoran  ofteuer  imitated  by  the  rich,  who,  if 
they  give,  permit  their  good  deeds  only  "  to  live  after 
them,"  instead  of  planning,  and  directing  with  their  own 
hands,  the  schemes  of  benevolence  they  desire  to  inaug- 
urate for  the  benefit  of  their  unfortunate  fellow  beings. 

There  are  many  places  of  historical  interest  that  might 
be  described,  as  well  as  numerous  Halls,  Colleges,  Hos- 
pitals, etc.,  but  the  limits  of  this  paper  will  not  permit. 
We  shall  only  refer  to  the  Government  Hospital  for  the 
Insane,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Potomac  and 
Anacostia  rivers,  and  one  of  the  finest  and  largest  insti- 
tutions of  the  kind  in  the  world.  It  is  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  in  length  by  two  hundred  deep,  containing 
five  hundred  single  rooms,  and  accommodations  for 
more  than  nine  hundred  patients.  The  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Asylum  and  College  are  also  conspicuous  among  the 
Public  Institutions,  built  in  the  pointed  Gothic  style, 
and  costing  the  Government  $350,000. 

During  the  late  war  Washington  was  converted  into 
a  vast  fortress,  and  made  the  base  of  operations  for  the 
entire  forces  of  the  Union.  The  hills  surrounding  it  were 
covered  with  the  camps  of  soldiers,  while  its  vast  streets 


558      PECULIARITIES  OF  AMERICAN  CITIES. 

and  avenues  hourly  echoed  the  tread  of  moving  troops, 
and  the  heavy  crushing  roll  of  artillery.  At  the  close 
of  the  contest  the  city  was  found  to  have  risen  high  upon 
the  wave  of  revolution ;  a  new  element  had  been 
infused  into  its  population,  and  the  march  of  improve- 
ment had  begun.  In  ten  years  the  number  of  inhabit- 
ants had  increased  fifty  thousand.  With  the  continuance 
of  peace,  and  the  spirit  of  improvement  and  progress 
remaining  unchecked,  it  may  reasonably  be  predicted 
and  confidently  anticipated,  that  the  close  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  will  find  the  Capital  City  of  this  great 
Republic  approaching  in  splendor  and  importance  the 
realization  of  the  proudest  hope  and  dream  of  magnifi- 
cence ever  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  its  worthy  founders, 
and  in  itself  a  monument  worthy  of  the  immortal  name 
of  WASHINGTON. 


Date  Due 


m  19  "* 

* 

KtlTJ. 

FEB  8      !9/ 

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(-J  1975 

""  RECD  NGV 

y  :r-> 

PR.NTED   IN    U.S.A.                        CAT.      NO.      24       161                         jjj$ 

